


Seeds

by Rueitae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (in the context of an art class), Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kidnapping, Mermaids, Mild Gore, Pre-Relationship, Public Nudity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2020-03-02 11:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 62
Words: 32,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18810412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rueitae/pseuds/Rueitae
Summary: A collection of Plance ficlets designed to inspire both writers and artists, and also stretch the imagination of those of us writing them. Fluff, angst, and everything in between.





	1. Secret Relationship and Intimate Artistry - angst/whump

**Author's Note:**

> All ideas are free to use with the caveat that you share the fic with us so that 1. we can enjoy it and 2. help share it with everyone.
> 
> All fics are designed to be about a page long (~400 words or less). Just enough to whet your whistle and want more, as a prompt should.

The team knows, and those closest to them. It was to be a secret until this was all over - Zarkon defeated and the universe saved - lest it be used against them.

Like now.

Pidge’s heart pounds in her chest so hard she fears it may burst out. Her breath is heavy, the only sound she can hear despite the busyness of the command deck.

The Galra commander pages through her journal, the one she vehemently denies as a diary. He stands only a few steps from her, but his lieutenant holds her in place, his hands pinching uncomfortably around her arms, aggravating the blaster wound on her shoulder.

He’s the only thing keeping her from dropping to her knees - thanks to the blade in her stomach.

None of the physical pain compares to the humiliation as her personal life is on display to the enemy.

Worse he’ll see… he’ll see _Lance_ all over the back pages. Pidge is no Keith as far as talent, but it’ll be obvious it’s him. Her heart and soul are poured onto those pages - written or drawn.

The commander laughs. “What irony that there was a time that a Paladin had no idea what Voltron even was!” He snaps the journal shut with a single hand, a cruel smile on his lips. “I think I’ve seen enough. Take her to see the Blue Paladin. See if twisting the knife a bit will make him talk.”


	2. Green-Eyed Epiphany and Magical Accident-angst/posession

_Lance_ cups her chin almost reverently, lifting her gaze to his. “I mean every word, Pidge. Your beauty washes over me like a sunset.”

Pidge’s cheeks burn and she tenderly brushes his outstretched arm with her fingers, eyes glistening with happy tears. “I thought - I didn’t think—“

“Shhh,” _Lance_ whispers, his face inching closer to hers. He strokes her bangs back. “Let your genius rest, Pidge. There’s no need to think.”

To think that a romantic gesture from him would be enough to bring Pidge to her knees. It both sets his heart fluttering and… _terrifies_ him with the power he holds over her.

 _Just friends_ , she’d insist. _The best partner_ , he keeps saying, for her humor and genius and _friendship_.

Lance pounds on an invisible wall, fear seized in his heart. “Pidge, stop!” He pounds and kicks again. “That’s not me! Don’t kiss him! It’s a demon! He’s after your soul!”

She can’t hear him. Not when he’s locked away in his own mind.


	3. Soulmate AU and Twenty-Four Hours to Live-angst/torture

The first cut stings. Pidge winces on the second cut, but by the fifth it’s unbearable.

And it doesn’t stop.

“Just - just let her go. Do whatever you want with me just - AGH!”

Lance screams and gasps, lurching as far forward as the chains holding him down allow.

Pidge wants to tell Lance he’s an idiot for trying to save her. Tears fall down her face for both the pain and for their shared fate. They’re too far along. If the myth won’t kill them, surely blood loss will.

Soulmates didn’t _exist_. Not really.

But she watches them take the final chunk of skin that displays her soulmark, proof that they _do_ exist, the cut deep into her left arm. They may have well carved out her heart. It’s as if she feels their metaphysical bond shatter before her eyes - something she didn’t even know they had.

Lance has stopped screaming, tears on his own face as he looks at her. _I’m sorry_ , he says. Though she can’t feel him, she knows his heart.

“The soulmarks have been removed. Orders Lady Haggar?”

Their captor looms over them, a face void of sympathy.

“Store the quintessence for study. Monitor them. See if they die in one sun’s rotation like the others.”


	4. Plance Fights A Squirrel -fluff/action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, funnily enough, I haven’t seen either of the Ant-Man movies but…

Lance screams at the top of his lungs, hands gripping the squirrel's soft brown fur as tightly as he can manage. Sticky residue binds him to the skin of the animal. In his panic to hold on as the squirrel runs, Lance finds a spare moment to mentally thank Sam for being eccentric enough to be both a physicist  _ and _ an entomologist. 

_ “Hold on, Lance, I’m coming in hot!” _

He hears the buzz of her wings before she finishes her warning. Lance lets go, a leap of faith. 

Pidge catches him under the arms before even a blade of grass touches his suit. He relishes the sensation of flying, the weightlessness and freedom. 

Until Pidge drops him closer to the ground and he rolls forward, head over heels.

“Picnic will have to wait, Tailor,” Pidge says. “The squirrel went into the hole just ahead of you. Scanners show its not connected to a tunnel network, so just go in and get Dad’s chip!”

Lance groans, but runs ahead into the tunnel… smack into an acorn. “Urgh, there’s so many nuts in here.” He grins. “Hey, Pidge --”

“Shut up and get the chip, Lance!”

Pride fills his chest at the fluster in her response. A frazzled Pidge is adorable, and she’d probably forgive him later. “I was just going to say you could plant a whole forest with these. You like plants.”

“Let the squirrel have his winter stores. All we want is the chip.”

Lance rolls his eyes. Chip, chip, chip. Is it that important it can’t hide from bad guys on a small animal?

He arrives towards the back of the tunnel after maneuvering around the acorns. The squirrel digs away, placing the newest acorn in a lowering, the green colored chip still stuck to its leg. 

“Okay, come to Lancey-Lance…” He approaches slowly, carefully…

The squirrel turns abruptly and hisses in his face, baring teeth. Barely the size of its food, Lance screams in kind. 

His stomach is not looking forward to another ride, but this time he grabs hold of the squirrel within reach of the chip as it rushes out of the hole. Lance lets go and tumbles to the ground with the chip securely wrapped between his arms and chest. 

The sun shines behind Pidge as she descends gracefully to his side - like an angel. 

“Am I dead?” he whines.

Pidge grins and she kneels by him, and gives him a peck on the cheek. “Not today, Lance. You did good - you might earn your hero stripes yet.”

Lance lets his head fall to the ground and gives her a weary thumbs up, heart rate still too high to care. “Good,” he wheezes, “can we get bigger and finish our picnic now?”


	5. Alien Pidge abducts Human Lance -humor?/suspense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more dobosh and his memory will be wiped and she'll never see him again.

“I said I was  _ sorry _ !”

“It’s all right son,” Sam says. “Your sister will take care of it - we’ll get your eyes adjusted when we get home…”

Her family’s conversation blends into the hum of the ship as Pidge stalks her way to the cargo hold. Matt probably mistook the Earthling for a cow for  _ fun _ .

The Earthling lies in the middle of the bare space, groaning. Pidge echoes him, she’ll have to erase his memory now. He’s not a terrible looking earthling by any means and any less ethical scientist would have been glad to have him for a specimen. Her brow furrows at the weapon to his side, like a blaster but far less efficient. It’ll be something to test later on the long ride home. 

She kicks the not-blaster out of the way before binding his ankles with metal cuffs. She holds his single pair of arms - another inefficiency of Earthlings - while her second pair locks another pair of cuffs around his wrists. 

His blue irises open, and his expression contorts to confusion, realization, and fear. Without a disguise in place she recognizes her features are… alien to him.

He screams and tries to stand, only to fail. 

Pidge huffs and grabs him by the back of his shirt. The sooner she can get him to the lab and wipe his memory the better. 

The Earthling sucks in air faster than a terveyo fly. “You - you’re the ones taking the cows, aren't you? Holy crow I didn’t think aliens  _ existed _ .”

Pidge doesn’t grace him with an answer. Earthlings are cognitive enough to problem solve. Soon. Soon he’ll be back in the field where Matt picked him up by accident…

His hysterics only worsen when he sees the lab. 

“You’re experimenting on them. You’re experimenting on  _ me _ ,” he blabs. “Wait, I’m too young - too good looking! Let me go!”

Pidge tosses him easily onto a table and places sensory nodes to his temples. Just a few more doboshes…

“I-I’ll give you anything you want!” he begs. “I have - I have a peanut butter sandwich!”

Pidge pauses. Her mother has been wanting Earth produce… and peanuts are something they don’t have yet. 

“...let me see it,” she tells him.

The Earthling hastily pulls a brown sack out of a side bag. “Just… please don’t take my brain.” 

Pidge pulls out the food. It doesn’t smell of anything poisonous, so she takes a bite. For science. 

Pidge doesn’t believe in magic, not for her people - that’s an Altean thing - but this taste… is delightful. Her senses are filled with joy she’s never felt before.

They need more of these. 

The ship lurches, sending the precious sandwich flying out of her hands. She braces her hands on the table. Why have they launched into hyperdrive with the Earthling still aboard?

_ “Pidge, to your station! We’ve been spotted by a Galra cruiser!” _


	6. Pidge missing for longer at the end of s1 - angst

“Oh come ON!”

The Green Lion lit up, sending its energy as a signal across the universe to the Castle - to rescue.

Pidge’s heart became light, thrilled with her latest accomplishment. More than that, it meant she’d see her friends again, her team, who she missed more than she ever expected to admit.

“I knew it would work!” she exclaimed. She had only her trash nebula friends, and they weren’t the best cheer squad, but their markings light up for her in solidarity.

“Now it’s time to go ho– AGH!”

Her back exploded in pain and her thoughts go blank.

~~~

Lance shifted his sniper rifle to a blaster and aimed it at the giant bay doors, opening to reveal five distinct figures. His breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t shoot, not when - not when it was _her_. The smallest one was held in place by one with a lizard tail. And Lance recognized her.

“Pidge?” he gulped, heart pounding in fear.

Now he understood what Lotor meant when he said he wanted to finish his collection.


	7. Hairdresser Lance and Pre-kerberos Pidge

Lance growls as he looks over his class photo. He snaps his scissors. Now that Keith wasn’t in the Garrison anymore it was going to be ten times harder to get that mullet a haircut.

The door rings open and Lance puts away his phone. At least a customer will keep him occupied for a little while on this boring Saturday. He could be home on holiday but no, he’s volunteered to work the salon alone so that the others can have the day off.

(The pay will be nice though.)

He looks up. “Welcome to --”

Words are caught in his throat. He hasn’t seen Katie since … the Kerberos incident. He’s almost certain that’s the cause for her tear stained face and sharp, determined glint in her eyes. Why is she in the salon of all places? Surely the last thing she needs is a haircut?

“Katie,” he starts, pouring out all the sympathy he can manage into his voice. “I’m so sorry about your family.”

She sucks in a breath. “Lance, I can trust you, right?”

Lance bites his lip. He isn’t sure he likes where this is going. So he jokes, “what’s said in the salon, stays in the salon.”

Katie nods and sees herself to Lance’s usual station. “Good, because you’re in this for the long haul. I need you to cut my hair like a boy’s.”

A sharp gasp escapes him. “But I thought you liked your hair long? You never let me do anything other than a trim or layers!”

“I do,” she says. “But less people will ask questions this way when I enroll at the Galaxy Garrison. So make it a popular and unassuming style.”

“Woah. Hold up. Catch me up from square one.”

Katie sighs impatiently. “I don’t think it was pilot error. I think the Garrison is hiding something. Iverson banned me from the grounds, so I’m enrolling under a false identity.”

“Katie, that’s illegal.”

“And I’m going to do it with or without your help.”

Lance gives in, picking up a comb and fingering her thick curls for the last time. “You know I’m a student there too, right?”

“I know,” she says calmly. “I’m your new comm spec. I’ll keeping a close eye on you so you don’t spill the beans.” She pauses, frowning, looking far more vulnerable now. “I need to do this Lance. Please.”

He should say no; that’s what Hunk would say.

He begins snipping. “Whatever I can do to help, Katie.”

She tenses when he begins, but quickly loosens. “Call me Pidge.”

Lance nods. “Nice to meet you, Pidge. Looking forward to an interesting school year.”

(Two years later he’ll finally corner Keith’s mullet with his bayard’s sword form.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prompt nearly happened without mentioning Keith's mullet and THAT would have made this a tragedy.


	8. Plance haunted house - fluff/horror

A poorly constructed scarecrow lands flat at Lance’s feet. The broken speaker plays a definite not-scary-at-all line on repeat, “AHHHAHAHAHA. Beware the witch on the bay!”

A spooky night-noise soundtrack plays before the scarecrow’s head jolts up rigidly and speaks the words again.

Lance snorts and leans right into Pidge’s annoyed face. “OoOOooh,” he says in his most creepy voice. “That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Pidge glowers - she hates his smug grin when its betting against her - so he grins harder. She crosses her arms with a pout. “Matt said this was the best corn maze last year. I’m starting to think _he’s_ the one getting the last laugh…”

Lance brings her into his arms for a tight hug. “The night is still young, Pidge. We’ll get him back later. In the meantime, I think there’s a caramel apple back at the barn with my name on it.”

It brings a genuine smile to her face. “I wouldn’t mind some cider. It’s getting a bit chilly.”

Without another word Lance removes his jacket and places it on her shoulders. She tries to retort, but he cuts her off, “Ah, ah, ah, let me do something gentlemanly.” He boops her nose, which twitches adorably. “Besides, you look good with it on.”

“Thanks, Lance,” she says with a blush. “So, left or right?”

Lance considers the fork in front of them. He’s tall enough to see that right will lead them back to the barn quicker, but left leads them towards the bay. Mischievous thoughts roll through his mind about giving Pidge a cheap scare by splashing through the water. If not, a walk on the moonlit beach is romantic as all get out.

He steers her left and she rolls her eyes while falling into step with him. It’s the perfect cloudless and full moon night, arm around his adorable girlfriend.

Until it isn’t.

A lone figure stands on the beach, eerie with the moon’s reflection off the water in the background.

“Hey!” Lance yells joyfully. “Any good attractions out here?”

Lance blinks and the figure is on top of them. He barely has time to register the ghostly image of the witch of the bay. She hisses, pointed teeth gleaming in front of her black cloak and shrouded eyes.

Lance’s mouth already open when Pidge screams and no voice comes out. Just as suddenly as the witch was upon them, she’s gone.

Pidge is shaking next to him, holding his arm so tightly her nails dig into his skin. “Ha. Haha. I guess they really did have one really good scare,” she jokes nervously. “I guess I screamed first - you win the bet.”

 _I thought for sure it’d be you, you’re too smart_ , is what Lance tries to say, but no words come out of his mouth.

_Pidge can you hear me?_

His voice is gone.


	9. Pidge in art class, Lance is the model - nudity/canon verse fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the chapter where the 'nudity' warning comes into play. It's not too descriptive, but it's there.

Pidge sat down with a huff, eyes heavy from lack of sleep. Chip was worse than a child when he got a virus, and she couldn’t leave her mother to deal with that.

She had half a mind to skip this week. Art class really wasn’t necessary, and she was only taking it to prove that if a Paladin of Voltron could have a hobby post war, anyone could. Pidge _enjoyed_ doodling, and although she was no Keith as far as talent was concerned, she _had_ noticed an improvement of skill as the months dragged on.

It made her happy to look at her first drawing of Voltron - before she’d even known what it looked like - and compare it to last week, when she’d drawn the Defender of the Universe with all the tips and tricks she’d learned. It _looked_ like a robot.

(She gave the left arm a cute flower behind where the ear would be had Green been an actual lion - because she felt like it.) 

So Pidge was tired and complacent and was caught off guard when Lance spoke to her.

“Pidge?” he shrieked. “What are you doing here?”

It took her a tic to recognize the voice, and she almost doesn’t believe it because Lance doesn’t live in Garrison housing, or in Plaht City. But there he was, sitting next to her, wearing a… a bathrobe?

His cheeks are bright red, eyes as wide as saucers. Pidge is fully aware her mouth was gaping.

“ _Lance?_ ” she breathed in disbelief. “I’m in the class. What are you doing here?”

She’s of course happy to see him again, but was having a difficult time getting over why he was here.

Lance gave her a nervous smile. “Uh, maybe we can chat over a late night snack later,” he stopped himself, his face maybe even a deeper red now. “Or a drink. My treat. I’ll have Killbot Phantasm 23 once class is over, too.”

Her brow furrowed, conflicting emotions churned in her stomach at the mention of that specific game - the one she absolutely wanted to play with him once upon a time, before everything went downhill. Why…

The instructor entered the room and clapped for attention. “Good evening, class. We have a special assistant today. Last week we focused on robotics, tonight, we focus on human anatomy. Lance, if you would please.”

Lance gave her a half hearted smile and chuckle, and a mouthed a sorry, before standing and walking to the front of the room.

Pidge dropped her pencil and jaw the same time as Lance dropped his robe.

His blush faded when the class gave him good-natured chuckles. Confidence renewed, he awarded them with some humorous muscle flexing.

He doesn’t look in her direction.

Which was good, because she couldn’t stop staring - even though she really _shouldn’t_. She blinked rapidly, realizing her eyes were going dry. It does nothing for her hot cheeks and thumping heart and boiling blood down --

“Very good, Lance. Thank you for being a sport,” her instructor said. “If you could lay on your side on the table here…”

He does so, hiding nothing.

She sucked in a deep breath, wide awake now as she took in every last detail of his thoroughly sculpted and _naked_ farmer’s body, on display for the class - for _her_ \- to see.

The instructor might have told them to start, everyone else had started around her, but she hadn’t heard. All Pidge could think about was Lance’s first time in a cryo-pod - the first time she’d gotten a taste of _this_. Suddenly it was if her teenage dreams were coming true in all the wrong ways.

Or right.

She doesn’t know. Her brain felt utterly broken.

Time would tell if this was a blessing or a curse. After all, he’d promised to hang out after class.

...Maybe it was a good thing she’d come to class this week after all.


	10. Shark Attack! misdirected danger/pining

Lance laid back contently on his surf board, arms crossed behind his head. Surely this was the life? The temperature was perfect, hot without a ton of humidity. The water was calm, his board bobbing gently on the waves with him just along for the ride. He splashes with his bare feet, simply enjoying the afternoon off from school

The only thing that would make this even better was if Pidge was here, which was why he was out a ways from shore in the first place. Not everyone could boast they had a mermaid for a best friend. 

“Lance, look out!”

It was almost as if he could hear her voice already!

The next thing he knew, salty ocean water filled his nostrils and invades his mouth. 

Before he could really understand what happened, he was gasping for air above waterline, held up by familiar scaly arms. 

“Lance, are you okay? I’m so sorry! Rover!” Pidge yelled, no longer addressing him. “That is not what I meant! You can say goodbye to that squid dinner!”

Though he still felt disorientated, Lance recognized the fin of a shark circling close by. It dips beneath the surface and he realized in a moment of panic, that he really should be on shore right  _ now _ .

“Sh-shark!” He yelped. 

“It’s okay, Lance. Rover’s with me,” Pidge informed him, her tone way too calm for the panic Lance felt right now. 

Once his brain wrapped around the idea of his mermaid friend naming a shark like a… a puppy--

“You have a pet shark?” he exclaimed. “Since  _ when _ ?”

Pidge handed him his surfboard and she let go of him only once he had a secure grip on it. 

“Surprise!” she said brightly. “Or, well, it was supposed to be. You always said they were your favorite animal - and you humans have pets. What’s so weird about me having a pet shark?”

Lance grumbled, but forgot all about being upset when wet lips pressed against his cheek. When he turned Pidge was next to him, her arms crossed on the board and her head resting on top looking his way with a fond smile. 

“You’re cute when you get upset,” she teased. “Too bad you’re not a child of the sea.”

Warmth rushed to his cheeks and he turned away in embarrassment. “I guess you’ll have to get used to disappointment then,” he said.

Out of the corner of his eye, her face fell. 

His shoulders slumped. Perhaps he had to get used to disappointment as well. 


	11. Pidge hires hitman Lance to take out Katie - angst/fluff/established relationship

Lance has never declined a client; a feather in his proverbial hat that he’s quite proud of. That, along with his perfect success record, has made him a name in the right circles. He takes out his target and is able to support himself and his family.

But considering that this particular potential client is part of his family, Lance decides that this one time, he can afford to refuse.

“Pidge, no,” he stresses. “I’m not going to do it.”

His wife snaps her head up to glare at him, taking her attention away from the program she runs on her laptop. “Why not?” she asks pointedly. “It’s perfect.”

Lance throws his hands up into the air. “Because what could go wrong, right? Pidge, I am not going to take a hit from you on  _ yourself. _ ”

Pidge turns in her chair to face him, pushing the falling glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Technically Katie Holt. Galra Corp will stop looking for me if they think I’m dead.”

“You  _ are _ Katie Holt,” Lance states in annoyance. He huffs and stalks to the other end of the living room of their apartment above Hunk’s restaurant.   


“I know the risks, Lance,” Pidge tells him softly. “I trust you with my life, you know that.”

Lance growls and turns to face her, fists clenched in anger. Just because she trusts him with her life doesn’t mean he wants it in his hands. She knows exactly what she asks of him; a real bullet, a precise shot that will severely wound her. The mere thought of hurting her like that makes him sick to his stomach.   


But her face stops him from saying anything he might regret, her warm brown eyes pleading with him. She’ll be free of prying eyes - free to search for her family. Lance knows she’s already calculated all the odds as well as the pros and cons.

He can’t say no to her.

“Okay,” he says, heart thumping loudly. “If this is the only way.” He nods. “I trust you.”


	12. Inside Out inspired AU - fluff

Pidge laid back in her chair, arms relaxed behind her head. “Shiro’s got this, Lance. He’s been studying for weeks,” she says pridefully, as she always did.   


Because that’s how the personification of pride should say things.

Lance tapped his foot in anticipation. This was the big one; the last written test to become an astronaut and it was testing even  _ his _ core, joy. He felt more like Hunk’s anxiety at the moment.   


(It was a good idea to lock him in the utility closet the night before - as much as they all hated it, Hunk preferred not to watch anyway.)

They watched through Shiro’s eyes as he checks one multiple choice answer after another and reads through his essays. The minutes turn into seconds and then the bell - the test is over. Shiro had time to check over everything twice.

“Yes!” Lance whoops, leaping out of his seat. “Finally! Time to celebrate.”

“Told you he’d finish with ease,” Pidge grins. “He’s totally getting the top score in the class.”

Overcome with joy, because well, it was his job, Lance scoops up Pidge into his arms and spins her around. “We’re going to space! I can’t wait!”

Pidge wraps her arms around his neck like they belong there, and for all Lance cares, they do.

“All your hard work paid off, Lance,” she says, squeezing him tight. Her face snuggles into the crook of his neck and a shiver of delight and comfort shoots up his spine. If he imagines just a bit, it’s almost as if she gives him a tiny kiss on his neck.

“ _ Our _ hard work,” he counters, unable to stop smiling from both the occasion and Pidge’s touch. “If you hadn’t encouraged him to be proud of his accomplishments, I wouldn’t have been able to sustain his love of space.”

“Look at you being all prideful,” Pidge teases as he releases her to the ground. “You could say I’m  _ proud _ of you,” she says with a wink and a nudge. “Though I’m not ready to switch jobs.”

Lance puts his hands on his hips, a rush of delight in his heart. “Well then, what do you say we celebrate this  _ joyous _ occasion with the others?”

Pidge wags a finger at him, smiling the whole time, delighted he caught on to her use of their job titles. “Nice one, Lance. Let’s go tell Hunk he can finally look.”

She doesn’t have to hold his hand as they make their way to the common area, but she does; her face red not with prideful rage, but with admiration. Excitement tingles through his arms. They were two sides of the same coin, and right now, that coin was love.


	13. "Lance, you've got to promise me you won't freak out". Humor/fluff

“Lance,” Pidge starts slowly, her back hitting the door - she’s already wincing at his response, “you’ve got to promise you won’t freak out.”

He glares, leaning down slightly, eyebrows raised in suspicion - and he really has every right to be. “As long as you’ll finally let me go into my own room,” he emphasizes. “You’ve had me working on the pods all day and I’m greasy. I need a facial  _ stat _ and then I’m going to take a very well deserved beauty nap.”

Pidge gulps, and it feels as if her throat drops into her stomach. She hasn’t felt this guilty since she left her mother to infiltrate the Galaxy Garrison.   


“Okay, well, just a warning, it might be a little crowded in there,” she says with what she knows is a totally fake smile.   


Lance, blessedly, is more curious than tired. “Crowded?”

Time to fess up. “Yeah, I uh, was working in my room last night and you know the little fluff ball aliens that followed me to the Castle from the trash nebula?”

Lance nods, his smile far more genuine. “Yeah, those little guys are pretty cute.” His face falls, contorting into confusion as he tries to make the connection. “Why are they in my room?”

“You were on that mission with Allura and Shiro, and they wouldn’t stop floating onto my laptop or cuddling with me,” she explains. “I mean, I love cuddling with them, but I really needed to get code down so I could try it out on the Terithian’s tech before we leave tomorrow and you weren’t using your room so I, uh,” she flashes a disarming smile. “I borrowed it.”

He chuckles in good humor. “Is that it? I would’ve said yes even if I was here. But I really want my room back now.”

Pidge takes a deep breath. “Well, that’s the thing…”

“Ah come on, Pidge. How much trouble can two little space fluff balls get?”

Not for the first time, Pidge curses her height and weight as Lance literally slides her out of the way.

When he opens the door, she tries to scramble out of the way, but it is to no avail. Hundreds of tiny being with emotionless blinking eyes and glowing face marks tumble into the hallway.

Pidge breaks free after a few terrifying ticks and finds herself surrounded by a mound of blue, green, pink, and yellow trash nebula aliens.   


Lance is covered to the shoulders with them, a green one floats and bounces off his head with a squeak.   


He looks like he’s about to cry.   


Pidge chuckles lamely. “Congratulations. You’re a dad?”


	14. Mermaids don't need dry towels- fluff/homesickness

Pidge shivers, wrapping her webbed hands around her shoulders; the chill of this stale human bathroom somehow worse than the depths of the ocean.

The wind machine - fan? - rattles, the hollow noise bouncing off the tiled room. Her flipper splashes in the shallow luke-warm water in agitation of being alone. No family is with her, only the company of a strange human she has no choice but to trust her life with. 

Not that her wound is life threatening - now that her side is bandaged it will heal on its own - but had Lance not been surfing in the area, the sharks would have been on her shortly and she is still in no condition to outrun them.

Pidge has only herself to blame, screaming at the mesmerized human to get her to the beach. So she supposes she’s stuck in the human world until she heals - confined to this tiny tub instead of the freedom of the ocean.

Even if he reveals her presence to others - because she’s grown up on stories of cruel humans - it’s still better than being shark food.

The door swings open and Lance enters, his face a blushing mess. He carries bundles of cloth in his arms.

“Okay, so I dug through my closet and there’s some shirts that might fit you,” he says, clearly trying hard not to look in her direction. He fails, but his embarrassment fades to a face of concern. “You’re cold. Hold on.”

He drops most of the clothing on the floor and unfurls a small blanket. He wraps it around her and the first thing Pidge notes, with a start, is how utterly dry it is.

The material scratches at her bare skin but she has no time to care when he lifts her out of the water.

Pidge emits a childish shriek. She reaches out, desperate for some kind of control, Her arms find Lance. “What are you doing?” she demands.

He hisses. “Your claws are sharp,” he says, whining. “Getting you someplace warmer. You can use my bed.”

The two of them turn the corner into a larger room. Lance sets her down on the large box covered in blankets - his bed apparently. It too, is dry; the water on her body providing the only moisture, soaking into the linens. This is ridiculous - she’ll shrivel up without water!

“There,” Lance says, an air of pride about him. “You’re not shaking anymore.”

His sincerity warms her, because he’s right - she isn’t.

And the blankets are oh so comfortable.

“I suppose I can stay out of water for a little while,” she concedes. “Thank you, Lance. You’ve been really nice.” Perhaps it’s a little premature to say so, if she lowers her guard he still may take advantage of her vulnerability.

He sits on the edge of the bed. “Don’t worry, I’m not dumb. I’ll hang out here and when you need to go back in the water I’ll carry you back over. You might as well be comfortable while you recover, yeah?”

He picks up a small black object and presses a button. Pidge jumps as the larger black box on the wall across from her suddenly displays an image of three humans, one with sword.

Lance offers her a red colored device with buttons. He smiles earnestly and like a fool it soothes all her fears about being on land.

“You ever played video games?”


	15. Police/Detective Pikachu AU - fluff/domestic?/promise of action

The coffee is piping hot; the heat warming his frost-touched hands as he wraps them around the styrofoam cup. Lance sighs in contentment. Ever since Detective Goodman’s miraculous return, the coffee pot is always full and fresh at the office. A fact Lance was especially thankful for because it gets cold in Ryme City during the winter and the office heater is broken. 

Again. 

Being from the tropics, Lance can hardly stand it. 

No work is getting done today if all he can do is sit at his desk, shivering despite three layers of coat while drinking coffee. 

A high pitched whine overcomes the sound of his chattering teeth. Before Lance can full turn, Growlie has its paws on his lap, whimpering in worry. 

It melts his heart, literally and figuratively. 

“Aww, I’m so sorry, bud,” he says as he scratches his partner behind the ear. “I’m useless when it’s this cold. But you’re - you—“ 

Lance feels as if he can cry as realization dawns. He scoops the puppy pokemon into his lap and arms. Growlie doesn’t mind and licks his face in delight. Lance moans in contentment. “You’re  _ warm _ .”

As a fire breathing dog should be. 

Just then, a popping noise fills the office, followed by the heater coming to life. 

The entire precinct breaks out in cheers and applause. 

The savior of the hour and half his heart - because Growlie will always have the other half - enters the room with a flourishing bow. 

“Heat has returned!” Pidge announces, arms outstretched in the air. “Rotom found a faulty connection; looks like we had some hungry rattata; the wires are now metal reinforced.”

A few more whoops and thank yous and the office settles down, detectives and officers getting back to work. 

Lance’s heart flutters like lovestruck schoolboy and he can’t help a silly grin as Pidge walks his way and jumps to sit at the edge of his desk. 

“Well done,  _ Detective _ ,” he greets, emphasizing her new title. “You really can do everything, can’t you?”

A not quite smug, but very pleased line tugs up the side of her face. “Thanks Lance. I’m no Hunk, but I can fix an electrical issue in a pinch. Now you can get back to your case, huh?” She teases, looking at what he knows is a ridiculous get-up up and down.

He rolls his eyes, letting Growlie jump back down to the floor to check out the pokemon that came through the door. 

“It’s no biggie, Goodman’s kid practically broke up the underground battle ring without meaning to - I’m just stuck with the paperwork.”

Pidge tchs. “Poor Lance, not getting the excitement and glory you were hoping for when you joined?”

He grins, heart pumping as he says, “I’m over that because I found  _ someone _ better.”

Her usually rosey cheeks turn bright red, feigning a cough before her lips wiggle into a smile. “You’re an insufferable flirt.”

“You’re easy to fluster,” he winks. 

“You’re both the talk of the office.” 

A manila folder lands with a slap on the desk and Lance stands at attention. Pidge mirrors him. 

“Lieutenant - Sir!”

Lieutenant Shirogane rolls his eyes and raises a calming hand. “Lance, Pidge, go ahead and sit down. I’ve got a mission for you both.”

Lance relaxes his shoulders but not his mind. Team-ups weren’t uncommon but it usually meant something  _ big _ .

“Both of us?” Pidge inquires. 

Shiro grins, and Lance knows this will either be a lot of fun or the worst mission ever. 

“What do the two of you know about Team Galactic?”


	16. high school - vague magical girl au/action/slice of life

Lance doodles idly on his notebook, making an honest effort to pay attention to the new trigonometric function his class was learning today, when the wad of paper hits his head.

He turns his head, glaring first at Keith sitting behind him. The other boy shrugs, returning the glare and nodding over to Hunk two rows over. Hunk, not so discreetly, points to the floor and then in front of him. 

In front of Hunk is Pidge, who also glares at him and points to the floor. 

All the pointing and creaking of desks gets the attention of Allura, who turns around with a bright wide smile on her face, giving him two big thumbs up.

Lance blanches. All this for another love note. 

There was a time in his life he’d have relished getting secrets notes in class from his girlfriend. 

He always thought Pidge hated secret notes. Then again he never thought she’d like public displays of affection or outdoor activities until they really started hanging out together. Lance grinned, chest warmed at the thought, Pidge was a cuddler through and through, and she enjoyed the silly things in life just as much as he did. 

He’s so thankful he got a chance to get to know the Pidge underneath the cool exterior. 

Reaching down as if to grab his pencil, he retrieves the note and opens it in the confines of his textbook. 

_ Meet me under Old Willow after class. I have something I need to tell you. _

Lance grinned. Like a kiss perhaps? 

He turns and waggles his eyebrows suggestively at Pidge. Color drains from her face before she plants it on her desk. Lance chuckles, used to her exaggeration of disgust as much as she was used to his showmanship.

Suddenly, Allura rises from her desk, arm raised high. “Mr. Iverson! I need to use the facilities!” 

Iverson sighs, turning just enough to show his tired gaze. “You don’t have to ask permission, Allura. Go.”

She all but runs out of the classroom. A tense feeling suddenly falls over the room. Romelle bites her lips, Hunk fiddles his fingers, and Pidge sends worried glances his way. Keith is--

Keith is in the process of jumping out the window.

_ What? _

What Lance can only describe as a wave of darkness busts the windows of the classroom, sending him to the floor. 

“What the Sam Hill-- !”

“I’ve got the barrier!” Romelle yells! “Get him out of here!”

Lance groans, head pounding at the impact. “What the cheese is going on?”

Pidge kneels by his side, face showing nothing but concern. “I promise I’ll explain everything, Lance. You’re in a lot of danger right now!” She holds out her hand. “Please, just... trust me.” 

Unable to find the right words, Lance takes her hand and settles with, “Okay.” 

Because regardless of the fact that his classmates are fighting a shadowy apparition in math class, Pidge is the smartest and most caring person he knows. She’d never abandon her family and friends. 

It’s too easy to trust her with his life.


	17. single mom pidge/preschool teacher lance - canon verse with Chip/establish relationship/light angst

“The cellular makeup of the meteorite does show trace amounts of inter-reality ore,” Chip says, reading the results of their latest test.   


Pidge nods, looking over the same information on a different screen. She’s not so engrossed in her work that doesn’t notice when her nose twitches and her heart flutters in anticipation upon hearing familiar footsteps in the hallway. This visit is unannounced, but not unexpected.   


“It also shows signs of sentient refinement,” Chip continues. “It is reasonable to say the Voltron Lions passed this--” The android’s eyes droop. “Paladin Lance approaches,” he says disappointingly.   


Sure enough, a heartbeat later Lance comes bounding into the lab; dressed in his new officer’s uniform sporting a joyful smile on his face. He leans over the back of her chair, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. “Gooooood morning, my brilliant wife.” He pauses. “Morning, Chip,” he says nervously.

Chip glares - the tension between the two thick. “You are impeding scientific progress. As a former Paladin of Voltron, surely you understand the importance of this research! Do you not have your own duties to attend to with the cadets?”

Lance growls, looking incensed. “I think  _ you _ could stand to upload some manners into your programming.”

“You are not my father!” Chip fires back.   


“Okay, that’s enough,” Pidge says, standing firm between the two. Ever since her engagement to Lance, he and Chip have been at odds with each other and today, she has had enough of it.

Lance crosses his arms and turns away like a small child. “He started it.”   


“I insist if Paladin Lance were more  _ attentive _ to the work we do here--”

“I am plenty  _ attentive _ ,” Lance snears. “You need to loosen up!”   


“ _ Stop _ ! You are both acting like children! Lance,” she says, turning to her husband, pleading with him. “I love you just as you are, you know that right?”

Lance mumbles, but a small smile curves up his face as he tries not to look her way. “Yeah, I know.”

“Chip,” she turns to her robot. “Lance is just as much a part of this family as you are. He may act dumb sometimes, but that’s part of his charm.”

“Hey!” Lance sputtered indignantly. She knows he’s exaggerating purely for show, his feeling not hurt in the least.   


“I think the best thing you two can do is spend the day together,” Pidge decides.   


It’s met with dueling protests.   


“I’m looking after…” Lance pauses, looking around as if someone else might be listening. Not that they were, Pidge prided her lab in being the most secure place in the universe. “After the  _ little _ cadets today,” he finishes with a whisper.   


“And I must assist you with the analysis of this meteorite!” Chip pleads. “It is of the utmost importance to locate the Voltron Lions.”

Pidge pats Chip on the shoulder. “Which is why I’ll have Matt help me out. You go have a fun time with Lance and the preschoolers.”   


If there was one thing Lance enjoyed more than teaching the of-age cadets, it was volunteering at the Garrison daycare. Surely if there was any environment he could stand to enjoy Chip, it’s there."

“It’ll be perfect,” Pidge says cheerfully. “Chip is always learning human behaviors, what better place to do so than at a school during a key stage of child development.”

They groan, and Pidge bites her lip. If this didn’t fix the rift between the two, Pidge isn’t sure what she’ll do. She just hates to see two of the most important people in her life hate each other.   


It’s already breaking her heart. 


	18. Noble fantasy AU - plance kid

Pidge huffs, feet exhausted and arms sore. Her mind has been muddled for hours, but she shakes her head, reaching awkwardly for her water pouch. She can’t afford to lose concentration now, not when they haven’t stopped for the night and she is their only source of protection.

“I can take her,” Lance offers. His voice is a balm to her heart and arms.   


Gently, she guides her newborn daughter into her father’s arms, while he cooes and rubs her tiny nose with his, saying, “Who’s the best little girl?”   


Mae makes not a word, pleased to be sleeping as her parents walk on. Her daughter secure, Pidge gently glides a thumb over the cursed - or blessed, depending on who you asked - Mark of the Chosen on her forehead; the reason they flee with only what they can carry.   


“Thanks, Lance,” she says, voice more tired than she likes. She takes a swig of water. “How much closer do you think we are?”

Lance props his daughter up comfortably in his arms, the billowy cotton shirt of a commoner no doubt the perfect second blanket for Mae. Only his trimmed short hair betrays his noble background now.

“Well, it has been ten years,” he admits sheepishly. “But I think we’re out of Zarkon’s territory now. Even he won’t dare follow us this close to fey lands.”

“ _ We _ shouldn’t be this close to fey lands,” Pidge says with furrowed brow and shortened breath.   


Lance slumps and lifts Mae’s beautifully embroidered baby blanket - a gift from Lance’s tutor, a reminder of his, and his daughter’s, true noble allegiances rather than the one they’d both lived under.   


“As long as she doesn’t have to live like we did,” he reminisces sadly. “I want her to meet her real grandparents someday.”

“And she will,” Pidge promises. Though her hand subconsciously rubs the cloth of her glove, acknowledging the location of her own Mark of the Chosen on the top of her left hand. For all the hoping and praying she and Lance had done for their child not to bear the Mark, it always had seemed hopeless when the both of them bore their own.   


This was all they could do to make sure Zarkon couldn’t have her childhood like he’d had theirs.   


Lance sniffs the air and Pidge raises an eyebrow. “You don’t do magic, Lance. What do you smell?”

He huffs in indignation. “I can sense magical things just fine. There,” he points behind a grove of maple trees. “The castle was just beyond there.”

Pidge would have preferred not to base their escape off the memories from Lance’s childhood, but with Haggar expressing too much interest in her child even during the pregnancy, she had little choice.   


The family trudges on, past the maple trees. Pidge paves the way, moving a branch out of the way for Lance to follow. Her jaw drops as she raises her head to the sight.   


An aged castle sits atop a hill. Defensible, easily looked over, Pidge thinks rapidly. It’s just what they need.   


“I told you it was there,” Lance crowed.   


Instead of snarking back, she hugs him. It will be a lonely life, but better than living as Zarkon’s ward.   


“I’m glad you were right,” she tells him, knowing it’ll add to his ego, but at the moment just relieved. She leans up to kiss him on the cheek, and then their daughter on the forehead. “Let’s go make it a home.”


	19. Lance is given a set a business cards that say he is a super genius. Pidge reacts - Remington Steele AU

Pidge sets the small package down at her desk and sinks into the comfortable chair in relief, surrounded by the familiar sights and smells of  _ her own _ office. Now that errands were out of the way, she can go through the case files and start some actual detective work.   


Perhaps Matt has sent her a care package from home. Pidge rolls her eyes. It’s only been a week since he last asked about her recent cases, eager to pick her brain about his own work. As much as she loved talking detective work with her brother, surely he could ask their parents with their long and storied history in the business.   


On second thought, he’s probably trying to avoid hearing about how they first met again. Pidge grins. Pot calling the kettle black, so to speak, as he is enamored with one of the rookie police officers in the precinct he works for.   


Pidge frowns.   


“I wonder if I’ll meet someone at work too.” It seems to be a family curse… or blessing, she supposed. Mom, Dad, and Matt were all so happy and  _ in love _ …

Pidge is happy for them, she really is. But perhaps seeing them all in such happy relationships, where she hardly had a friend, was what made her move across the country in the first place. Start fresh. No one knew her as the awkward nerd and she can occupy her time with her own detective agency.   


Who needs romance anyway?

Content, Pidge tears into the package. There’s several office supplies, all of which she remembers ordering but… not the business cards.   


The ones that say ‘Lance McClain: Super Genius Detective for Hire’.   


Pidge wants to scream, her face red with anger. Objectively, the cards are true. The fictitious Lance McClain got her foot in the door in this city, a mysterious detective that no one has ever seen. It got people talking, and people talking is free advertisement.   


But it's the principle of the thing that makes her angry.   


“Lance!” she shouts, gripping the business cards and ready to crush them. The office chair swivels as she stands with a flurry and it takes but two steps before she can push the door open that separates her office from the waiting area.   


The man of whom her ire is directed sits comfortably on the sofa, chatting and cozying up with Nyma - Pidge’s very real and very first client.   


The con man who stole the identity of her own imaginary detective sees her and waves with a flashy grin that makes her even angrier. Yet Pidge has no choice but to reign it in with a client in their midst.   


“Pidge!” he says joyfully. “Nyma and I were just talking about the latest details in the Beezer case! I didn’t want to continue any further without consulting my firm.”

He sounds pretentious, but Pidge sees differently. There it is, the crack. The side of her mouth twitches up as his eyes flash to her panic, begging for help. No longer does she care about the business cards, time to revel in the fact that ‘Lance’ is no detective at all. Watch him squirm.   


“Oh were you?” she airs, taking a seat and crossing her arms. “Well then, _ Lance _ , please regale us with your deductive skills.”

His eyes bulge and Nyma leans in expectantly. “Um, well…” he hesitates, then laughs nervously, “it’s so simple, I thought perhaps it was a good opportunity for my dear partner to polish her skills.”

Oh, the sneaky quiznaker. Well, at least after Nyma leaves, she can yell at him for ordering those business cards behind her back. 


	20. “That was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid” - angst/ambiguous universe

“That was either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid, kid. I’ve never failed a contract before and I don’t intend to now.”

Pidge doesn’t grace him with a response, curling her knees to her chest in a measly effort to provide some self comfort and warmth. The night was already cold, but she refused to move any closer to the fire than necessary.   


Despite his congeniality, the last thing Pidge wanted to do was take any form of hospitality from the lead bounty hunter. Terag the Eye lived up to his name. She’d had a price on her head less than 24 hours - she hadn’t even  _ known _ about it - before he’d found her.   


And Lance.   


Lance who was unconscious and still very hurt on the other side of the sprawling campsite, under close supervision of Terag’s underlings. Pidge stayed with the leader, unbound. There was no need with Lance’s life hanging over her head.   


Terag sighs as he shifted in his seat. “Not much of a talker, are you? That’s fine, that’s fine,” he said, deceptively non threateningly.   


“We have a few days to travel yet,” he continued. “You don’t have to say a thing to me, but my employer might not be as kind.”

Pidge wrapped her arms around her legs, heart pounding with adrenaline still from her attempted escape. She glared at her feet, clothed with shoes that certainly weren’t meant for travel or battle, rather than look directly at her captor. For all of his talk, he hadn’t told her a thing about who ordered her kidnapping.

Terag sighed, then reached into his bag. He pulled out a piece of wood and took his knife to it.   


“I can’t bring your boyfriend home,” he started.   


Pidge shuddered, gut twisting in fear - anticipating his next words. She wasn’t even bothered by his assumption of their relationship. It was her heart’s desire, after all, and she was just starting to think that maybe, just maybe it was his too.

“We aren’t a cruel bunch,” he continued. “Business only. So long as you do as you’re told, we’ll set the boy up with a job in the company.” He whistled with a smile. “That shot of his is impressive. Ol’ Kolb will be nursing that wound for a few weeks.”

Pidge’s heart pounded in her ears. “Why can’t you bring him home?”

Terag grinned. “And there’s the right subject. Can’t have him looking for help. He’ll be well looked after. He’ll be a full member of the group if you don’t put up any more struggle.”

“Except he won’t be able to leave,” Pidge hissed. They’d both be missed, but if one of them could return home…

“It’s either that, or we kill him, kiddo.”

Pidge’s heart leaps into her throat.

“You can be brave for him.” Terag cuts clean through his carving with ease. “Or stupid.   


“Your choice.”


	21. Lance and Pidge have dueling panic attacks over having a baby - heavy angst/canon verse/post series

Pidge was pregnant.

This was wonderful. They both wanted this, they’d been working for it, they’d  _ fantasized _ about this.   


But, as Pidge throws up for the third time this morning after her cycle still hasn’t arrived as scheduled, into a tiny latrine in the back of her cell, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.   


She clenched her fists and tears threatened to come loose as she kneels on the floor, unmoving.

They couldn’t bide their time and wait for a rescue any longer.   


This was all wrong. She sucked in a sharp breath, continuing to do her best to hold back the tears that so desperately want to flow. Their baby was supposed to grow surrounded by family and friends, not in prison.   


It tore her heart to shreds thinking about what the Rift Beast would do when it found out; a child of two Paladins of Voltron - its greatest foe.   


The wall of energy that kept Pidge locked in her cell dematerialized. She doesn’t have to look to know who it is.   


“Up, Paladin. It’s time,” says her soulless guard.   


Pidge slowly stands. The guard today is Galra. She shivered, still not used to the blank, white eyes of those the Rift Beast has under its control.   


She and Lance have only been spared enthrallment thanks to their Lion’s latent protection. A protection the Rift Beast has been clear they can forego once it finds the right… motivation.

A baby in danger.

The reminder threatened to open the floodgates again, her hormones completely out of control. The war was supposed to be  _ over _ .   


She allowed the Galra man to cuff her and she sets off automatically down the hallway as she’d been ordered to each day. Pidge would rather not see the Rift Beast but… Lance will be there too.   


He needed to know.

Pidge enters the room as she had for the last week. It slammed shut behind her, sending her surroundings into pitch black.   


She knew Lance was there because of the heavy breaths that weren’t her own.   


“I threw up this morning,” she began, hoping he’d get the message.   


A sharp intake of breath. He understood. “Are… are you sure?”

Pidge feels the panic coming on at having to face their enemy with this new knowledge. It’s a panic like she’d never known, not even against Sendak that first awful time, or Zarkon chasing them relentlessly through the universe, or the threat of the destruction of every reality...

“I think I’d know,” she insisted, with less annoyance than she would have mustered had were they not in this situation.   


“Quiznak…” Lance said, the hint of fear painfully evident. “No matter what happens, I love you okay?”

Pidge nodded, though she knew he couldn’t see. She hated the rising panic in his voice, the same panic she felt. “I know.”

Like a switch, light flooded her senses.   


“Paladins,” the high pitched voice booms before them, like a chorus of tiny mice.   


The Rift Beast.


	22. I think we should see other people - fluff

Pidge clutches her chest over her heart, eyes wide, still reeling from what Lance has just told her. 

“You can’t scare me like that,” she says, giving him the pointed glare he deserves. “How else was I supposed to interpret that?”

Lance holds up his hands in surrender. “Okay, that totally came out wrong. You know I say stupid stuff all the time!”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “Yeah, but I’m the one who usually puts my foot in my mouth. When you say ‘see other people’,” she says with accompanying air quotes, “that usually means a break up.” She sighs, shoulders slumping. “And honestly, Hunk probably will see this as us breaking up with him. Do you really want to be the one to tell him we don’t want to double date anymore?”

Lance sweats, biting his lower lip in clear thought. “Okay, so I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just - I had this idea. If you were up for it.”

Well, she is dating him for a reason, she likes his face and his goofy plans. So she relents, arms crossed expectantly, “What did you have in mind?”

~~~~~

Lance has a lot of good ideas, Pidge admits. As she takes a peanut butter sandwich out of the picnic basket, she decides this is one of the best. 

Her boyfriend lays on his back on the other side of the basket, legs so long they fall off the blanket to rest on the orange-red grass of Daeltera-5. They sit on a hill, under what would be a weeping willow on earth, bathed in purple leaves and small white flowers, and overlooking a clear blue lake. Later they’ll go swimming, but for now, they enjoy the food they packed. 

“I’ll admit, this was a pretty good idea, Lance. I’m impressed,” she says lightly before taking a bite of her sandwich. 

Her praise stirs his ego. He preens, a smirk showing off his teeth that practically glint in the setting sun. “When it comes to romance, I nail it like a pro.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, but can’t help the smile on her face. She turns her attention to their tagalongs, holding out her sandwich. “Do you guys want some?”

The little aliens she befriended in the trash nebula float closer, their eyes wide with what Pidge likes to think is curiosity, otherwise they never would have come with her back to the Castle in the first place. 

It wasn’t exactly a double date, but it’s nice to treat the little ones for their friendship, both then and now. More than ever, Pidge is happy Lance is clever thinking outside the box.

“It’s peanut butter,” she explains. “It’s a little sticky, but the bread is the same as I usually give you.”

The green one is braver than the blue one, and fortune favors the bold in this case. It sucks (chews? chomps?) some peanut butter bleeding out of the sandwich, it’s markings glowing in delight. 

“That one definitely takes after you,” Lance says. “Intellect and daring right?”

Pidge jumps a bit, as he’s sitting up right behind her, and nudges him with her elbow for his troubles. She smiles, heart warmed that he remembered the characteristics that made her the Green Paladin. 

He hugs her from behind and she wraps her hands around his wrists. “You also love fiercely, and are loyal. Thank you for caring for me.”

She chuckles. “Where’s this all coming from? You’re feeling deep today?”

It’s then he drops the small, black box in her lap.


	23. Lance shoots a faun, Pidge is not pleased - fantasy AU/hurt/comfort/fluff

“I cannot  _ believe _ you.”   


“I said I was  _ sorry _ ,” Lance insisted. He wraps his - now bloody - shirt tightly around Pidge’s leg.   


She hisses in pain as he tightens it, arching her back against the willow tree they rest under. The hoof on her other foot pounds the ground, next to the bloody arrow that was, until a few minutes ago, embedded past her fur and in her leg.   


“I thought fauns only came to the real world during the spring and summer,” Lance continued in annoyance. How was he supposed to be on the lookout for his friend during hunting season if he didn’t know she was there?

Pidge growls and mumbles under her breath.   


Lance raises an eyebrow as he sits back on his heels. “What was that?”

“I  _ said _ ,” Pidge enunciates, “I didn’t make it through the portal in time.” Anger leaves her face as she sighs, giving him her most pathetic doe-eyes. “I’m stuck in the mortal realm until spring.”

Lance knows his mouth is gaping, but fear seizes his heart as he slowly comes to terms with what that means. “But you have nowhere to go without the magic of the thicket. Anyone could find you.”

She slumps against the tree, looking at her hastily bandaged wound. “Case in point.”

“You’re lucky it was  _ me _ ,” Lance says. “You can stay at the summer palace. No one is there during the winter, you’ll be safe from prying eyes. I’ll make sure of it.” He grins with a brilliant thought. “Hunk and Keith know about you. I’ll make sure he gets patrol duty out there, and I’ll go with him. Hunk’ll make you plenty of those sweets you like. You won’t go hungry.”

Pidge opens her mouth to respond, but the whinny of a horse far too close to either’s liking fills the air.   


“I’ll steer them away from here,” Lance says quickly. “Do you have enough magic to cover you up for a little bit?”

Pidge nods. “I think so.” She bites her lip and Lance’s heart melts. He’s never seen her look so terrified. “Please be quick.”

Lance nods as he stands. “You have my word, Pidge. I’ll keep you safe.”

And he means it. 


	24. Pidge writes 'Property of Pidge' on Lance - canon verse, realization of crush

It started innocently enough.

Pidge couldn’t find her headphones. Yes, the Castle was huge and alien and completely unlike anything Pidge had ever seen, but still they’d only been here a week and she couldn’t find her headphones!   


There wasn’t a lot of free time, between fighting and running for their lives and figuring out this whole Voltron thing, but even with all the strange tech, surely her headphones did not suddenly sprout legs and walk off on their own.   


...Which actually was a really cool idea…

“Hey, Pidge,” Hunk greeted as she walked into the lab.   


“Number Five! You’re just in time!” Coran said spritely. “I have a few moments to show you both the engine room. It’s a complicated beast, but I think your brains can handle some key pieces in case I were to have my innards explode and die a horrible death.”

Hunk blanched. “Coran,  _ why would you say that _ ?”

“I’m looking for my headphones,” Pidge interrupted before Coran could explain, likely in graphic detail, why that was a concern for him. “Have either of you seen them?”

Hunk bit his lip, looking distinctly like he was hiding something. She narrowed her gaze and he gave in quickly.   


“Lance has them. He couldn’t sleep that first night we got here, so I might have mentioned you had headphones and… hey, Pidge?”

~~

Later that night, after retrieving her headphones, she wrote on them in large, capital letters: PROPERTY OF PIDGE

~~

Except it didn’t work. Lance continued to borrow them, with and without her permission.   


His homesickness was relatable, so as long as he knew they were her’s, she was okay with him using them. It wasn’t as if she had much time to listen to music or could cut off others speaking to her (even if she really wanted to sometimes).

A part of her was happy to be useful to Lance though. He’d always been kind to try and include her as a friend back at the Garrison, back before he knew why she was really there, and her heart fluttered with delight every time he thanked her for their use. It was a way she could finally give back to the friendship he offered her way back then.   


But the headphones weren’t the last of it.   


It irked her when he took her pen, using it to autograph a rock (seriously a  _ rock _ ?) for one of Shay’s little cousins. In itself it wasn’t a terrible thing, it was actually kind of sweet, but the point was he hadn’t asked her first.   


So she did the same as the headphones, writing PROPERTY OF PIDGE on them using Coran’s miniature welder.   


All was well for a while, until he took her phone to take selfies with _~_ his~ Voltron’s adoring fans on Puig. Disappointment stirred in her gut. He was always wanting to take pictures of himself around the Castle, with Hunk, with a reluctant Keith and a smiling Shiro (before he… Pidge preferred not to think on it), and Allura.   


But never her.   


She could hardly write on the phone, so she made a custom background with the words: PROPERTY OF PIDGE.   


~~

It came to a head on an obscure little moon with a mad magician with a grudge against the Coalition.   


By this time, Pidge had confirmed that she had ulterior motivations behind letting Lance borrow her things thanks to Hunk’s constant indignation that he was never able to borrow her tools.   


She had a crush. A very bad one that she couldn’t shake no matter how hard she tried. She owed it to her friends not to say anything, though. Lance had genuine romantic feelings… and they weren’t for her.

But as Lance struggled to escape a very real ‘magic’ box that absolutely  _ would  _ cut him in half, Pidge’s feet moved on their own.   


“I volunteer for the mind control act!” she blurted. Anything to get the madman’s attention away from Lance.   


She’d gone against a sphinx and won, surely her brain would prevail here.   


The magician cackled as he pointed his wand at her. “Give in to your greatest desire, Green Paladin! Take the respect you know you are due!”

Pidge doesn’t remember much after that. Only when she came to, Shiro holding her in his arms, asking if she was okay, does she catch Lance wiping marker off his forehead.   


He caught her gaze, and immediately looked away, blushing madly.   


A sick feeling stirred in her gut. What had she done?


	25. Shiro talks to Pidge about inappropriate flirting with her bayard - fluff? realization of feelings

“Pidge? Can we talk?”

Pidge stops and turns, sparing a longing look down the hallway that leads to the Green Lion’s hanger - her lab. As much as she wants to get back to work, she can never say no to their leader, her rock and anchor to her missing family.

So she faces him fully as he approaches. “Sure, Shiro, what’s up?”

He gives her a bemused look, and she’s immediately suspicious. “It’s about training this morning. What did Lance do to deserve the taser this time?”

That earns him a sharp laugh from her. Oh had he deserved it all right. “Lance seems to think because I’m so small I can’t pack a punch, so I reminded him my bayard is part taser,” she shrugs, pleased with herself.   


Shiro rests a hand on his hip. “I see. With enough training, you could knock someone out with a punch. Although,” his expression teeters between amusement and an attempt to discipline, “it would probably be better not to make Lance your punching bag. He’s your teammate, and there are better ways to flirt back.”

For a moment, hope rises at the prospect of Shiro giving her some one on one training, but then her brain catches up with the second part of what he said and heat fills her cheeks.   


“Wh- _ what _ ? Flirting? Shiro, you’ve got to be kidding me!”   


He has the audacity to laugh at her. “Sorry, Pidge. You remind me of how my parents met. Mom used to give Dad a kiss on the cheek out of nowhere even before they started dating. She said it was a thing she did for family and friends, until he realized she only did it for him. Then he kissed her back the next time she did it.”

Pidge smiles, heart melted. “Aww, that’s so sweet.” She frowns. “Wait, no, I pick on the others too!”

Shiro smiles sympathetically. “No, just Lance. Sorry if I made too much of an assumption. If you ever want to talk about it, you can always seek me out.”

Here she was the Green Paladin, known for intellect, daring, and curiosity. Yet she finds herself unable to come up with a proper response. “Th-thanks, Shiro,” she says numbly.   


He pats her on the shoulder. “We can start building up that punch at training tomorrow. I’ll see you then.”

And so he walks away. Pidge’s heart pounds in her ears. It was true she’d always had a longing to befriend him at the Garrison, holding back only to focus on finding clues about her family, but a crush?   


He laughs at her jokes, appreciates and encourages her curiosity and intellect. Though she never showed it, his goofiness got her through some of the rougher days, and his drive to study and train was always something she admired.   


Quiznak. 


	26. “It’s Matt, does he need an excuse to act like an idiot” Plance watch Matt try to flirt

Pidge slurped on the last of her milkshake, leaning back comfortably in her office chair with her feet up on her scraps desk. Though it was filled with pieces of unfinished projects, she found just enough room for her shoeless heels.   


Only one more thing would make this late night at work complete…

The door swung open. Lance swaggered in holding bags of - Pidge sniffed, hmmm peanut butter sandwiches - and slicked back his hair with his other hand, leaning seductively against the doorframe.   


“My lady,” he addressed her. “Your food has arrived.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. Whether he was referring to himself or the actual food she doesn’t know, and was sure she’d find out later. For now, they had more important things to worry about.   


“Grab a seat, Lance. The show is about to begin,” she said.   


She turned up the volume on the holoscreen as Lance pulled up his usual chair and handed her one of the bags. With delight, she grabbed a peanut butter cookie and began to nibble on it.   


Lance bit into his turkey sandwich. “So, what’s the wager this time?”

“A week of lab time at Altea’s new observatory,” she said. “Might be hard. He and N-7 have been making a lot of progress. It’s kind of cute, actually.”

“Hmmm,” Lance said sagely through a mouthful. He swallowed. “So you win if their blushing protocol doesn’t work?”

Pidge nodded. “The two of them have been hush hush about their work, so I’m a bit worried they’ve got it. On the other hand…”

“It’s adorable,” Lance finished.   


“Yeah,” Pidge agreed. She wanted nothing but the best for her brother and N-7 was a delight to have at family gatherings. They’d fit in perfectly.   


Lance leaned back in his chair. “Any chance to see my love coaching in action is worth a date in the office.”

A snort escaped her mouth. “It’s Matt. He doesn’t need an excuse to act like an idiot.”

“I resemble that remark!” Lance protested, mouth flapping in indignation..   


It only sent Pidge into a fit of giggles. “Yeah, you definitely do.”

With a huff, he lightly tapped her arm, then sunk into his seat in embarrassment.   


Pidge chuckled. “Sorry, Lance. That was a little unfair.” She rolled her chair over and gave him an apologetic kiss on the cheek.

Lance smiled softly. “Forgiven,” he said.   


She whispered in his ear, “I love it when you’re goofy like that.”

Pidge was so close she could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Matt could make as much a fool out of himself as he wanted, she was happy with her own goofball.


	27. super villain pidge reluctant assistant lance - canon verse heavy angst

Lance runs. He runs as fast and as far as he possibly can, past cars aflame and around pieces of fallen building. Surely there’s a place to hide close by, he needs to find somewhere soon so that he can recover his breath.

Ducking under what was once an overpass at the heart of Plaht City, Lance finds a rubble-made hole - structurally sound or not it will have to do - that will hide him. He climbs in and makes himself comfortable. Not a moment too soon, as a patrol drone scans the area around him.   


Lance hates running. He hates it so much - almost as much as he hates crying. It seems like that’s all he’s done lately, run and cry - mourn for his family, his friends...

But if he doesn’t run… if she learns his location…   


Then he’ll have a universe to cry over.    


Lance closes his eyes and leans his head back against the upturned concrete. Paladin armor and his bayard is what he needs, not his casual clothes. His heart twists. Perhaps it’s better he doesn’t have them. He isn’t sure he can find it within him to fight her.

So running is his only option.   


The sound of blaster fire hitting the ground is the last thing Lance hears before he slams into the rubble with terrifying force.   


Everything hurts, but he forces himself to at least open an eye. Gone is his hiding place, no longer recognizable as the overpass it used to be. His heart sinks as three patrol drones surround him.   


No, no, no! Lance groans - he has to get out of here! With adrenaline as his friend, he forces his (probably) broken arms to lift--

Robotic arms grab him instead, lifting him into the air just high enough that he can’t reach the ground.

He growls in frustration, in defeat...  it’s over.   


He should feel fear, and probably a healthy dose of anger, but he can’t bring himself to feel anything other than sad.   


Maybe… maybe he can try and get her to listen one more time.

“Hi, Lance.”

He looks up and there she is, floating down to him as she sits cross-legged on top of a fourth patrol drone. She smiles pleasantly, hand holding up her chin, as if they’re about to sit down and have lunch together.   


Lance gulps. “Hey, Pidge,” he says hoarsely.   


She sits up straight and huffs with her whole body once at eye level with him. “You shouldn’t keep running away, Lance. I need your help.”

“Pidge, please,” he begs. “Stop this.”

“I can’t do that,” she says with a nonchalant sigh. He twitches as she nears him, stroking the side of his face. Once upon a time he’d have cherished the action, but now it makes him sick to see how warped Pidge has become. “You’re the only one left, Lance. I have to protect you. The only way I can do that is to destroy everything else.”


	28. Vet AU - Bae Bae POV/modern setting/fluff/existential sci fic???

Before I joined my pack, mother entertained my siblings and I with stories of the Great Wolf. She said he could see the future and would offer guidance to canine and human alike in times of need.   


It was a nice story, and fun to imagine what the Great Wolf might look like, but after years with my pack I’d largely forgotten about it.

Until today.

My current mission in life was to the youngest pup. She intended to strike out on her own and form her own pack someday, and I was bade to go with - to protect her and be her companion until our new pack grew.   


Recently, I believe her to be courting a new member, because we come to this place to see him often. So I do my part to wag my tail, smile, and cuddle.

“Aw, who’s a good girl?” he said, joyful as a puppy in a wide open space as he lifted me to a table. He gave me a scratch behind the ear and I melt in delight.   


We must have him join our pack.   


“So, what seems to be the problem, Pidge? Bae Bae looks perfectly healthy to me.”

My human turns a bit darker in color (perhaps it is she who should see a health specialist) and smiled. “Oh, I just thought she ate something while out on a walk. I wanted to bring her in as a precaution.”

I whine in protest. I eat nothing on walks!   


The prospective pack member chuckled. “Well, I think I can safely say she’s fine.” He paused, frowning. “I guess I’ll see you for her yearly checkup in a few months.”

My human becomes sad. “Yeah… I guess. Thanks for looking at her, Lance.”

The attempt to get him to join our pack was unsuccessful! What should I do?

Time stops, both humans frozen mid-movement. What--?

“You must help them see, Bae Bae.”

That voice. I do not recognize it but… it feels so familiar.

He comes through the walls, like a ghost, as tall as my human, dark black and blue fur thick all around him.   


“You are… the Great Wolf?” I say in wonderment.   


The Great Wolf nods. “I have been given the name, Kosmo. I am here to help you, young one.”

I scoff. I am hardly a puppy. But still… for this to be happening. “I thank you for what wisdom you can offer me, Kosmo.”

Kosmo nods. “I see the future is bright for your new pack, but the road to togetherness is troubled.” He walks elegantly towards me and places his snout on mine. “I bestow upon you the gift of insight. You will know what these two humans are thinking and feeling. Use this to unite them.”

I sneeze. As I do, a whole new world of sights and sounds is opened to me. I see emotions and colors I’ve never before known, red for embarrassment and blue for sadness.   


“Use this gift wisely,” Kosmo says. “I wish you happiness for you and your pack.”

The Great Wolf fades, and the humans move again, both resigned in sadness and both for the same reason; leaving each other.

This cannot stand.   


“I will not waste this gift,” I say in determination. 


	29. Lance has a crush on Pidge pre-voltron, it gets brought up post voltron - fluff/childhood crush

“And this,” Lance gestures grandly, gracefully pivoting to face Pidge as they enter the room, “is my old room.”

Pidge crosses the threshold and takes in the strange sights. It isn’t out of the ordinary. Lance has his fair selection of grade school trophies and space memorabilia. The comforter on his bed is blue and she really isn’t surprised. It feels a lot like Matt’s room, but the fact that it’s Lance’s makes it feel as if Pidge has gone into another reality.   


“Nice,” she says, because what else does she say during a house tour? One trophy catches her attention. “ _ You _ were in Science Scholars?”   


Lance laughs and nervously - or embarrassment? - rubs the back of his neck. “Only for a couple years, when I first really got into space. All the studying helped me pass the Galaxy Garrison entrance exam.”

“I’ve got one just like it,” Pidge continues with a smile. “We could have faced each other at Nationals at some point and not even known it.”

With a grin, Lance taps his index finger against the air. “Hold on, you’re gonna love this.” In a dash, he retrieved an old binder, covered in stickers of the Galaxy Garrison and those of bygone space programs. He opens it with care, paging through until he shoves it into her arms, pointing at one photograph in particular.

Pidge can’t stop smiling. “Oh my gosh, that’s how you met Hunk?” Sure enough, a young Lance and Hunk, who can’t have been any older than ten, stood smiling and waving with their necks adorned with the medal she recognized for creative thinking, an event where one person built something out of a set amount of materials and gave handwritten instructions to their partner, who then had to recreate it. It was a test of creativity, friendship, and precision.   


“My partner for the event got sick, and by coincidence, so did Hunk’s, so the officials paired us together even though we were on different teams,” Lance explained.   


Of course, there can be no coincidences for the future Paladins of Voltron.   


“Our teams both got credit for first place. We promised to meet again at the Garrison, and we did!”

Pidge pages through the photo album, reminiscing on her own experiences while appreciating Lance’s. Though as she turns each page, her heart skips a beat. This is the same year she went to Nationals.   


“You have a lot of… random pictures,” she observes aloud. Then she gasps looking at the photograph in the upper right hand side of the last page.   


It was her. One small Katie Holt in line with her mother to get a snack in the background of one of Lance’s photos.   


“Oh yeah, I remember that one!” Lance says. “Veronica was messing around with my camera.” He laughs, a sad smile gracing his face. “For the longest time I had a crush on the girl in the background. I was so mad at myself for not saying hi just because she was a girl, so after that I decided to talk to  _ all _ the girls so I wouldn’t miss my chance.”

Pidge is many things - curious, intelligent, decisive, and brave.   


She also loves Lance a lot. And after sharing a mindspace with him and others inside sentient spaceships, and knowing she promised herself no more secrets, she can’t help but laugh.   


“Next time you come visit Mom and Dad with me, bring this,” she says with a knowing smile. “I’ve got a picture that will blow your mind.”


	30. Hogwarts AU - vld canon compliant/post canon

“I think we should go to the arcade.”

Pidge huffed, like Lance knew she would, in frustration. “First we had to work with mom in the greenhouse, then take the crowded bus, then a fancy restaurant. Lance,” she stressed. Her entire body deflated like a balloon.  “I just want to eat a pizza at the apartment and play Killbot Phantasm with you.”

It stirred the guilt in his heart. Any other day he’d have loved to do the same but--

There it was again out of the corner of his eye. The shadow that had been following Pidge all day. The reason he tried to keep her near the crowds. After everything they’ve been through, he doesn’t want their lives to end on Earth from an unknown assailant.   


“We are about as safe as we can be. We’re on Earth, on Galaxy Garrison grounds, surrounded by an energy barrier strong enough to repel six zaiforge cannons,” Pidge said evenly, being typical Pidge trying to ease his worry. It doesn’t ground him today, not when he’d seen it with his own eye.   


And doesn’t know what it was.

“And we’ve fought against and with space magic, Pidge,” he stressed. “I would not be surprised at anything at this point.”

_ “Incarcerous!” _

The last thing Lance saw was Pidge’s wide, frightened eyes before he plunged into darkness.

~~~

When Lance woke, the first thing he noticed was that he couldn’t move.   


At all.   


The second was that he was in a chair, and could see Pidge in the same situation out of his peripheral vision.   


Two former Paladins of Voltron taken out like  _ nothing _ .   


The woman on the other side of the desk he faced looked stern, and suddenly Lance felt more like he was in the principal’s office rather than kidnapped.

“Katie Holt and Lance McClain,” the woman began, paging through a leather-bound portfolio. It, like many of the objects on her desk, had an ancient feeling to them, not unlike the Lions themselves.   


“Up until now, the two of you hadn’t a spark of magic in you. Yet you return to Earth after years in space and have such unbridled magic potential it is nearly overwhelming. I have been asked by the Ministry to implore that the two of you and your companions are much more… discrete… you have questions I’m sure.”

Then, with authority to rival even Iverson’s tone, she spoke, “ _ Fine Incantantum! _ ”

Lance fell to the floor and Pidge was already asking questions.

“What did you do to us? Who are you?”

“A simple freezing spell, which you would have learned in your sixth year had we known Voltron was going to happen. Please sit and let’s have a rational conversation.”

Lance pulled himself back into his chair. “What do you mean ‘we would have learned it’? Earth doesn’t have space magic.”

The woman grinned and Lance bristled. “We have much to discuss, so please make yourselves comfortable. I have a bet with a friend across the pond over which House you two would have belonged to.

“As for who I am? I am your handler within the Ministry of Magic, an organization of wizards that you former Paladins of Voltron now belong to despite being muggles for most of your lives. You’ll get a rather nice robe out of it, perhaps green and silver for you both?”


	31. Pidge gets secondhand crush on Lance during dinner conversation - fluff

“Father, can you tell us a story?”

Duke Holt pauses, soup spoon full of goodness stuck halfway between the bowl and his mouth. His eyes wander first to his wife, who shrugs with a wry smile and will offer no help, to his children.

He can never resist the spark of curiosity in their eyes.   


So he sets his spoon back into the bowl, foregoing hunger for now. Setting his elbows on the table, he laces his fingers together and leans forward. “A story, you say? What kind of story? Science perhaps? Or adventure, or perhaps even courtly life?”

“An adventure!” his daughter exclaims gleefully. He loves how much she reminds him of his mother.   


“Yeah, adventure!” his son echoes.   


He makes a show of thinking before leaning forward with a grin. “Once upon a time, there was a smart and incredibly handsome stable boy who was adored by all the women in the village. His dream was to be famous in service of the King.”

A snort and a laugh comes from the direction of his wife. Let her, she’s the one who married him.

“Like a knight?” his daughter asks with a quizzical brow, thick and bushy and adorable like her mother’s.   


“Naw, like an advisor, like grandpa,” his son says.   


“You’ll have to wait until the end of the story,” he chides. “One day, he was asked to accompany the princess herself on an errand over the mountains.”

The jaws of both children dropped, enraptured already.   


“The stable boy was head over heels for the princess, but he worked closely with her lady-in-waiting during the journey. They didn’t always get along, and one day, their argument got them both lost from the caravan!”

The children gasp and lean back in their chairs in perfect sync.   


“Together, the two of them fought monsters and Galra and even a dragon,” he shook the table. Though it spilled some of his soup, the delighted shrieks from the children were worth it.   


“And at the end,” he gazes at his wife, love and admiration in his eyes. She smiles the same way at him. “The stable boy realized he didn’t want to spend his life without her and she felt the same about him. When they got older, they married and had two beautiful children.”

The children are quiet for a moment, before the girl says “I wanna know more about the  _ monsters _ .”

“Perhaps at bedtime your father can elaborate on the monsters,” his wife says to his rescue. “The two of you have school early in the morning. If you want more story, you’ll get ready for bed quickly.”

Before she finishes her words, the children are gone, sprinting to their rooms.

His wife laughs. “Really, Lance? I wouldn’t exactly call that a dragon.”

“It breathed fire, Pidge,” Lance protests in a childish whine. “The fact that it was six inches tall means nothing. I defeated it.”

 

“You did,” she concedes. She stands, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her lips to his temple. “The boy in the story sounds so sweet, I think I’d marry him again if I could.”

 

“And I’m roasted duck?” he teases. He lifts his eyebrows. “Perhaps you can remind me of my youth after the children are asleep, Lady Holt?”

 

The way she takes her sweet time to tease and then tenderly kiss his lips tells him her answer.


	32. Lance has to convince Pidge to leave by hurting her (emotionally) - angst/threat of death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Technically a stand alone, but can be treated as a continuation of chapter 20

Lance hates every quiznaking second of this as he walks slowly through the forest. Tears prick at his eyes - he hasn’t even done the act and it’s already tearing his heart to shreds.   


He isn’t afraid for himself, no, not anymore. He’s made peace with that, despite the metal collar weighing heavy around his neck. The only thing Lance can’t live with for the rest of his life is Pidge  _ not _ living.   


Pidge is sitting in silence, curled up near a campfire, face downcast. Lance is about to dampen her mood even more.   


Might as well get it over with.   


“I heard you wanted to see me?” he starts with a grin, pushing back the tears and pulling on every acting skill in his bones.   


She gasps and stands far too quickly. Nearly as soon as the smile forms on her lips, its replaced with a frown. It’s difficult to forget their hopeless situation.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she gulps, settling on a small curve to the side of her mouth. “They wouldn’t let me see you. I was really worried.”

Lance shrugs, resisting the urge to take her into his arms and tell her how sorry he is and that everything was going to be all right. It isn’t.   


“Their healing capabilities are pretty advanced, even better than at the Castle,” he says with prejudice. “I’ll be tons better once they let me off probation though.” Lance fiddles with his collar. Though he’s perfectly capable of faking good behavior, it seems unlikely he’ll ever earn their trust.

Pidge frowns, painful understanding gleaming in her eyes. “Lance, you don’t have to do as they say. Once I’m--” she gulps, a terrified look glancing across her face and it breaks his heart, “Once they hand me over, you do what you can to escape. Please.”

Lance hates this, stuck in a game of protecting each other. A vicious cycle that may not end until rescue comes from the outside. He wants to say that yes of course he’ll work to escape.   


The glint of a sniper scope in the trees behind her reminds him to keep acting. Living is better than whatever might await her, he has to remind himself. .

“I dunno, Pidge. I kinda like their outfit,” he says as nonchalantly as possible, a shrug of a shoulder and hands in his pockets. “Who knows, they might get a hit to take down Galra forces, so I’m still doing my Paladin duties, right?”

Pidge’s gaze bores through him like x-ray vision, searching for what he’s up to. She suspects, he knows she does. His heart races faster as he sees the glint again out of the corner of his eye.

He has to make this convincing.   


“Hey, you’ll be safe this way, Pidge. If you’re locked up they won’t be looking for you. Besides, I’ve been looking for a way to leave the team for a while now.” The big grin he keeps on his face threatens to kill his soul. “No more dealing with Keith as our oh-so-great leader.”

Pidge’s face goes read in rage, fists clenched at her sides.   


Lance won’t let her speak, not if they both want to live another day. He’ll get out of this somehow and then rescue her from whoever ordered her capture.

“It’s been nice knowing you, Pidge. Hope you find your family quicker this way.”

Her eyes grow wide and arms go limp in disbelief. It’s like a stake through his heart.

So he turns and forces himself not to walk away too fast.


	33. “This is why you don’t drink in Vegas, Lance!” - Woke up married

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hangover, kidnapped

“This is why you don’t drink in Vegas, Lance!” Pidge yells desperately.   


Lance still looks out of it, blinking through whatever hangover haze he still has, but at least that wakes him.

“Stop the car,” he groans. “I’m gonna throw up.”

Pidge rolls her eyes as the van hits a particularly bumpy section of road, still moving at high speeds. “I can’t.” She wishes she could. “I need you to focus, Lance. We are in  _ huge _ trouble.”

Her grip tightens on the iron bars that separate her from Lance. Though they’ve been kidnapped, their cages are only the second most important piece of metal in the back of this van.   


Her ring, the one made of comet ore that matches Lance’s, is the most important piece. It symbolizes their wedding vows, taken just last night with Keith as their witness (only because Kosmo surprised them all by teleporting him halfway across the galaxy).   


Eloping was thrilling, and they had every intention of having a proper wedding so that the universe could wonder over the spectacle of two former Paladins of Voltron exchanging vows. But, for now it was just supposed to be relaxing. After a good time on the town (and in their honeymoon suite) they would wake up in each others arms and go inform their respective families - who honestly probably wouldn’t be surprised.

So much for those plans.

The van catches air and lands with a thud, sending Lance smacking into the side of his prison. That finally sobers him.   


“What the cheese?” His eyes wander wildly. “Pidge, what’s going on?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” she says. “I woke up to this too.”

Lance groans. “Once a Paladin, always a Paladin, I guess.” He holds his head and Pidge sympathizes, his hangover isn’t the only thing causing his headache right now.

“The bars aren’t anything special,” she says, rapping a finger against one with a sad sigh. “But I don’t carry my miniature welder in my pajamas.”   


Lance hums thoughtfully. “Well, it’s not all bad news,” he finally says.

Her eyebrows furrow into a glare. “I’d say most of it is.” Holding up her index finger, she counts, “We don’t know where we are. We don’t know why we’re kidnapped. We’re in our pajamas. We have no weapons. The only silver lining is that we’re  _ together _ .”

Lance smiles, with that big dumb grin that makes her heart flutter whenever its directed at her. “You’re my wife,” he says in the most lovestruck tone possible.   


The side of her mouth twitches up despite everything. She can’t hold or kiss him right now (surely they’ll share one once they escape) but it doesn’t matter when her husband can give her the same warmth with just a smile. 


	34. pirate captain pidge and kidnapped nobleman lance - angst/sickfic

Pidge sits at the bow of the ship, flipping open the pocket watch with her thumb for what feels like the hundredth time. She hates being so close to port, especially with the Galra authorities breathing down her neck.   


The elegant sea monster with emerald eyes stares back at her, it’s tail keeping track of the hour. It’s almost time for the exchange.   


Her heart twinges and she hates it.   


With a resounding click, she jumps down from the barrel and walks down to speak with their one prisoner.   


Lance is in a coughing fit when she arrives, reminding her why she ultimately agreed to this.

“Your ticket home is almost here,” she tells him. Firm, like a pirate captain should be.   


He rubs his face with his tattered cotton sleeves, a confident grin in place when he looks at her, distorted from the sweat and pain on his face.   


“You have my th-thanks, mi’la--”

“Don’t finish that,” she spits harshly. It has taken her years to earn the trust of this crew, and learning that she is a woman would leave actual power hungry pirates closer to finding her real identity.   


He chuckles. “Of course.” He closes his eyes, leaning back against the iron bars. “It’ll be nice to see my family again, but I have to admit, I’m gonna miss you Pidge.”

She shouldn’t indulge him in talk but… she likes to hear him talk. After all these months at sea, despite threatening to expose her, he’s never acted like he didn’t like her. Perhaps it had to do with not having much to do while locked away, he was glad to listen to her ramblings about where to go or which ships to attack. He listens to her carefully worded dreams, peering at her like he can see through her gruff and hardened captain persona and see the young woman who just wants to find her family.

If he hadn’t fallen ill, she would have kept him here. Having him home, where he could tell the authorities who she was - tell her mother…

She will risk it to save his life.

“Sendak assured me a physician will be coming during the exchange,” she tells him. Her nose twitches at the name of the local commander. She’s never liked him. “Perhaps you’ll have some pain relief until the fever breaks.”

Lance nods, eyes still closed, a partial smile on his face. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

_ You can’t promise _ , is what she wants to tell him. Instead she says, “I trust you enough for that.”

“I think,” he continues head lolling, “If we’d met in another life, we’d have been really great together. Your brains and my smile,” he lazily points to his mouth, his smile, “we really could have done something.”

“...maybe,” she concedes. “Maybe in another life, you could have had more to look forward to than a sheltered noble life.”

The same life she had refused to resign herself to years ago when titles did her father and brother no good in keeping them safe.   


She takes the keys off the wall and unlocks his cell. “Let’s get you ready to go home.”


	35. HTTYD AU - fluff/love confession, then angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a hideous zippelback because I get to make use of Blue AND Red, while Pidge has a green colored deadly nadder. I was sorely tempted to switch them to more fit their bayards, but have something different for now.

Blue ruffled her head, agitated they haven’t gotten underway yet. Lance leaned forward in the saddle and gave her a soothing pat behind the ear - just where she liked it - before turning to his right.   


Though they both hovered far above the tallest building on their dragons, Pidge whispered calmly into Green’s ear.

“Are we gonna go Pidge, or are you too chicken for this race?” he said in annoyance.   


She shot him a glare, before whispering one last thing to Green. “I’m ready. We’re gonna kick your butts.”

Red hissed in his ear, no doubt upset Blue had received a scratch and she hadn’t. The hazards of loving the same dragon with two heads and two personalities.   


Lance smirked, confidence surging in him as he placated Red with a rub under her chin. He’d been a dragon rider for way longer than Pidge, with the bond between him and Blue (and Red), they were gonna smoke her!

“Last one to Dragon’s Edge has stable duty for a week.” Dramatically, he held his hand outward. “Ladies first.”

Pidge scowled at him. “Considering you didn’t even know I was a girl a month ago, that’s hilarious. Let’s go, Green!”

And with that, the deadly nadder was off in a flash, leaving Lance jaw-dropped. He shook his head violently in disbelief before grabbing Blue’s reins. “Hurry Blue, Red, come on we gotta catch up!”

The hideous zippelback propelled forward with twin delighted squawks, Lance zeroed in and focused already on catching up to Pidge. How dare she start without an official take off! If she won this he was not going to follow through on their bet! She’d cheated!   


Pidge and Green were fast, but Lance and Blue (and Red) used experience to their advantage. While Lance kept them pointed on the straightest path towards Dragon’s Edge, a flight they’d flown a hundred times, Blue bent her head below and released a cloud of poison under her belly, which Red ignited with a spark - using the extra propulsion to get closer to Pidge and the hot air to lift higher into the sky.   


Lance stuck his tongue out as they passed Pidge and Green from above. “Better luck next time, Pidge!”   


It’s a good hour before Lance settled in for a rest. It would take the rest of the day to get to Dragon’s Edge and he hadn’t seen Pidge since he passed her.   


“Looks like we’re gonna win this one, Girl,” he told Blue and Red lovingly, giving each a healthy scratch under the chin.   


Flying this high was always just a bit chillier than their nordic home, but this chill that suddenly overcame him was something different altogether.   


He screamed as a shadow appeared above him.

And Pidge’s head falls upside down in front of his.   


“Surprise!” she grinned. Then kissed him.   


In his stupor, Green rights herself, he and Pidge now flying side by side.   


“Even if I lose, I still win,” she bragged. “You should have seen the look on your face.”

Heat rushed to his face, eyes growing wide in realization of what she’d just done, heart beating a mile a minute. “You - I -  _ kiss _ ?” he wheezed.   


“You might be a bit of a goofball and a show off, but it’s part of your charm.”

For the first time in his life, Lance was flustered. He’d always admired Pidge for her brains, frankness, and fun loving attitude. That she liked him like this fills his heart with a kind of joy he wasn’t sure how to describe. It was light and happy and made him want to snatch her into a hug right that second.   


Happiness is ripped from his throat as a net and chains surround Green and Pidge, forcing them to plummet from the sky with a scream and a squawk.

Down below, a fleet of dragon hunters as far as the eye can see. 


	36. Lance’s exe sets a succubus (Pidge) on lance - fleeting angst/comforting pidge

“Welcome home, Lance,” Pidge said automatically as the door to the apartment slammed closed. There was no one else it could be, so she doesn’t bother looking away from her game. The Depths of the Demonsphere was absolutely nothing like what the demonic realms were like, but quiznak it was entertaining.   


He doesn’t speak right away. Unusual, but not strange, so she continued. “I got a bunch of mana potions, so what do you say about taking a crack at the final boss tonight?”

“... Sure, Pidge. Whatever you want.”

Since arriving in this mortal realm, Pidge had never heard her quarry so lethargic and downtrodden. She finally removed her attention from the game to see Lance slumped at the dining room table, face the picture of defeat.   


It was exactly the kind of mood Pidge should take advantage of - had taken advantage of in many mortals. In these moments when their guard was down she could take their quintessence, their life force.   


But seeing Lance like this made her sad. She doesn’t want to see him like this.

“Did… something happen?” she asked tentatively.

He sucked in a deep breath, clearly trying not to cry. “I lost my job. Hotel is closing up.”

Pidge licked her lips. It was a tragedy, she knew how much he enjoyed planning events for others and… it was the last connection he had to his long since passed family.

“I’m… sorry to hear that,” she said. The words felt so strange to her tongue. Only since staying with Lance, the longest she’d ever had to stalk a mortal, had she really started to feel an attachment.   


He laughs humorlessly. “Thanks, Pidge. Here I thought you’d be thrilled to see me so unhappy. Good chance to steal my soul.”

“Your quintessence,” Pidge corrected and rolled her eyes. “Although I suppose it doesn’t matter.” She frowned, and in a surprisingly concerned voice asked, “What are you going to do now?”

Lance shrugged, though the bags under his eyes betray the fact that he really was worried. “I don’t know, probably look for a new job.”   


“I think you should tell stories,” Pidge said before she could think. “It’s too bad this realm doesn’t have magic, you have a talent for it.”

His jaw dropped, shocked enough that the lost job no longer seemed to be on his mind. “Magic?” He pointed to himself. “Me?”

Her heart raced, oh had she opened up a can of worms… but… perhaps she could use this to finally fulfill her objective.   


She was going to really miss peanut butter though.

Pidge stands, walking the distance between the two, and took his hands in hers. “Yes, you,” she began. “There is nothing for you in this realm. I can take you to where I’m from. Once there, you can form a pact with me to enhance your ability. You can travel the land to your heart’s content, even entertain at events  _ yourself _ if you want. ”

She smiled, her heart fluttering about the more she talked. “I’ll technically have your quintessence, and we’ll be together until your death parts us.” Pidge pauses, a realization coming to her. “Unless you fix that through magic at some point.

“So, what do you say, Lance? Want to be a warlock?”


	37. Fantasy AU - assassins! intruigue frenemies

“Ah! Ow!”

Pidge keeps her eyes in front of her, focused on steering the horse and wagon where they need to go. The last thing she needs to do is pay attention to her prisoner. She’s suspicious of him as it is, getting caught so easily, She can’t have him talking his way out of this one.

Not when she’s so close.

So she pulls up her hood to avoid looking at him in her peripheral vision. There will be plenty of time to talk once he’s secure in the dungeon.

“You could - ow! - go a little slower! The bumps are gonna throw my back all out of position!”

Ignore him. Just ignore him. The second he finds out who she is she won’t be able to do her job.

There’s shuffling in the back, and then clanking - likely his metal cuffs against the metal bars of the prison wagon.

“Come on, Pidge,” he says with more care than he should, and she gasps then growls in annoyance. “I know it’s you.”

“How did you figure it out?” she asks.

He pfts. “Because anyone else would have killed me by now. So,” he says calmly. “You finally got me. Where to?”

Pidge takes a deep breath, then pulls down her hood and turns around. His unphased blue eyes are deceptively innocent, a tool he often uses to get himself out of these very situations.

“I’m not telling you that, not now,” she insists. “You’ll live to see another day, Lance, so long as you cooperate.”

“How generous.” He smiles at her, the dashing and suave one that makes her weak in the knees whenever he uses it on her specifically. He turns around and rests his back against the bars, for all accounts making himself comfortable. “But I suppose I can trust what you say, out of respect for our friendly little rivalry…”

Pidge turns around and breathes a sigh of relief. If he’s intrigued enough, he won’t try to escape.

“And I suppose being a noble lets you call the shots, right Lady Holt?”

Pidge pulls back the reins and the horse whinnies to a stop. She turns around in a flurry.

“How much,” she asks in her deadly serious tone, “do you know?”

Lance turns his head just enough she can see his delighted smirk, pleased he’s right. “Only your name, Katie. So tell me, what does the daughter of a duke have to gain in moonlighting as an assassin and what job do you have for me?”


	38. Plance vs Smart House - fluff/unrequitted love angst

“Pidge, look out!”

Before she can get a word in otherwise, carpeted living room floor makes contact with the side of her face, Lance on top of her protectively, tightly, as lasers fire at the wall behind the couch.

The couch they currently hide behind.

“This is ridiculous!” Pidge exclaims once the barrage dies down. “House, stop this!”

A pale, red light covers the living room. “ _I’m sorry, Katie_ ,” says the A.I. system of the house. “ _This is for your own good, Katie._ ”

Lance whimpers. “It’s like A Space Odyssey. We’re going to die if we don’t kiss.”

Ultimately, that’s what the house wanted. For whatever reason, the artificial intelligence observed their behavior whenever Lance came to visit and came to the conclusion that the two of them needed to be a couple. It really _was_ ridiculous. Pidge programmed this place herself from Olkari tech!

Unfortunately, in this case, Pidge’s streak of perfection continued. She loves Lance, and even after all these years after Voltron she still shows it enough for her own technology to figure it out; a crush she thought she’d squashed before it could blossom to maturity for her friend’s happiness.

Once again, she’s too smart for her own good.

So she gulps. She’s fearful Lance isn’t ready for this, but it’s kiss or death.

“Why don’t we then?” she blurts out, face hot for actually suggesting it aloud.

Lance gapes at her, a pink tone fills his cheeks under blue Altean markings that are now _glowing_ . “Wh-what?” he squeaks.

Pidge gulps. “Maybe it’ll get the house off our case,” she explains desperately.

She hates that it won’t mean anything.

He nods limply, then grins - that beautiful, goofy grin that still makes her heart glow. “Gotta make it convincing then, huh? I think I can do that. Nothing like a little bit of danger to turn you on.”

Still covering her from the house security system, he leans in and locks his lips with her own. It sends a dizzying shock of delight up her spine and irrationally, all thoughts of trying to hide… whatever she has for him, are gone.

Grabbing the back of his neck firmly, she drags him closer. Eyes closed, she holds on tightly in hopes to keep this moment as long as it will last.

Even if this is enough for the house, Pidge isn’t sure it will be enough for her. 


	39. Lance and Pidge meet in secret and come from rival mafia families - humor/fluff?

“Please, don’t hurt me! I-I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”

With the slightest of sighs of relief, hardly noticeable to anyone but the trained eye, Pidge loosens her grip on the man’s arm. Instead of breaking it - child’s play for a mafia enforcer while its twisted at this angle - she handcuffs him, locking the man to one of several rusted, industrial pipes across the warehouse.   


Pidge takes up a comfortable position, leaning against a crate in front of him, watching as he reigns in his hurried breaths, beads of sweat and lingering fear evident on his face.

“Anything huh?” she muses, giving him time to catch his breath. His information will be of no use if she can’t understand it. She crosses her arms. “I need information on Lotor. Tell me everything you know. Where does he go? What company does he keep? Car? Foods he likes?”

The man opens his mouth. Light glints off metal in the corner of Pidge’s eye. She flips her knife from her side pocket to her hands, sidestepping to put the prisoner at her back and knife in front of her face. She clicks the button at the end of the hilt, activating the magnetic field.   


A bullet is suspended in the air, inches from her face.   


“Come on, Pidge, won’t you let me look cool for once?”

Lance wades casually out of the nighttime shadows, sniper rifle strapped to his back and pistol in hand.   


Pidge rolls her eyes and sheaths her knife, letting the magnetic field drop. The bullet clangs harmlessly on the floor.   


“I got to him first, Lance. The information is mine.”

Lance crosses his arms, almost pouting. “And I need him silenced, Pidge. We can’t both get what we want.”

“She did get to me first!” the man chimes in behind her.”

“Leave him to me, Pidge. You’ve got an early morning tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

“I hardly need to be awake for a dress-fitting, Lance. He’s got information on Lotor, this is more important.”

Lance makes a show of thinking about it. “Okay, you win,” he finally says, to the prisoner’s extreme relief. “But only if I can get some information out of him too.”

“Only if I’m here,” Pidge insists. Information is what her family makes its money on, and she won’t be missing out on this.

A silly grin eases onto his face as he strolls forward, leaning forward to get into her prisoner’s personal space. “Red or blue?” he asks.

“Lance,” she whines in embarrassment. “This is hardly the time for wedding planning.”

He gives her a shrug. “Why not? It’s not like he’s going anywhere, and you can’t make up your mind what color you want.” He stands up straight and gestures to the man. “We have a tiebreaker right here.”

Pidge crosses her arms. “Red isn’t really the most appropriate color. Not after what happened the last time our families tried to marry.”   


It  _ had _ hid the blood well enough, she supposed.   


Lance nods. “I always did like blue better. Urgh,” he moans. “This wedding planning is a hassle.”

“You… you could just… elope?” eeps the prisoner. “And not have to worry about any of the planning at all?”

Pidge blinks, then grins. She looks to Lance and he has the same dumb look on his face.   


Not a bad idea at all. 


	40. Lance observes couple at bazzar - feelings realization

“That’ll be twenty-seven GAC.”

Lance gapes at the vendor when he realizes the alien is absolutely serious about the payment. “That’s robbery,” Lance growls. “These are worth half that,” he insists, pointing at the small leather bracelet in his hand. “You’re asking me to pay for fine china when all you’ve got is paper plates.”

The large, very large, unilu salesman looms over him darkly and Lance suddenly regrets coming to the market incognito. At least his bayard is tucked in his jacket. 

“If you don’t like it,” the unilu says in his deep, gravelly voice, “then you don’t have to buy it.”

Lance bites his lip. He doesn’t have to, the unilu is right. 

But Pidge will never forgive him if he doesn’t. 

It isn’t any old leather bracelet. It’s one with the name ‘Katie Holt’ inscribed on the outside, a silly sixth grade art project little Pidge made Matt take with him as a good luck charm when he left for Kerberos. 

Circumstances landed the bracelet up for sale in this unilu swap meet. 

He has to return this to her. He owes it to her as a friend. 

He just has no money.

“Would you trade for it?” he asks hopefully. But what of value can he offer? He leans in, whispering. “Perhaps… something from the Red Paladin of Voltron would suffice?” 

The unilu raises an eyebrow and looks around to make sure no one else listens. “Such as… an autograph, perhaps?”

Lance nods enthusiastically. “You bet. What do you want me to sign? This,” he says, holding up the bracelet. “Is all I want.”

The unilu smiles. It isn’t a nice smile and Lance gets an awful feeling in his gut. 

Then he blacks out.

~~

When Lance comes to, it’s to a tiny green face. 

“Mama! He’s awake!” 

Lance yelps and sits up, throwing the alien child off his chest. He stretches, sore, and hears a foreboding clank. 

One of his ankles is shackled to a chain, which is attached to the wall behind him. 

“Oh no. No no nonono,” he moans. “Look, you gotta let me go. There’s still a universe out there that needs saving!”

“Yeah, and there’s families that need to get fed, so have at it Paladin.” 

The unilu before him is tiny, but even she is able to drop a stack of papers nearly her own size next to him. “I’ll do anything for my family, and if that includes Paladin-napping, I’ll do it.” She tosses a pen his way. “Put that pilot’s dexterity to use.”

For a split second, he thinks he sees Pidge in her. On his wrist is the bracelet, compensation for his services at least. He can’t find it in his heart to be that angry, not when the kid is wearing rags. 

Before Lance can protest, the door opens wildly and a wiry unilu rushes in and takes one long look at him, groaning. “Aw honey, you didn’t.”

The inflection in the unilu’s voice is so familiar Lance fears it was him speaking and not his captor’s partner. 

Quiznak, it was like him and Pidge as unilu. Married. With a kid. 

The fact that the thought of him and Pidge married with a kid doesn’t seem so outlandish the more he thinks about it. And Lance isn’t sure why that doesn’t terrify him because he and Pidge aren’t even dating, much less have heart eyes for each other. 

Until two hours later, when Pidge swoops into the house like Batman and negotiates for his freedom. Maybe at that point, Lance admits, he swooned a bit. 


	41. Superhero au with mediator Hunk - humor/pre relationship

“I don’t know what else I can do,” Pidge says, her arms flailing upwards in defeat as she spins and sinks into the springy old orange sofa on the far side of the chemistry lab. 

She looks as depressed as Hunk has ever seen her. 

Slowly, he lifts his goggles to his forehead, his experiment on pause for now. Squinting, he tries his best to read his friend. Her hair is a wet mess and areas of her lab coat are burnt. Hunk groans.

“Pidge, please tell me you did not go through with the thing we talked about last night.”

Pidge flushes and refuses to look his way, crossing her arms. “I can’t… because I did.” 

An empty pit sinks in Hunk’s stomach. “Pidge, that needed at least another three months of refinement.” He takes a deep breath. “Okay.” He stands, and after walking over to her, lifts her into his arms. “It’s time for an intervention.” 

“I don’t need an intervention! I need a plan! Blue won’t get away from me next time!” she protests, legs bicycling in the air. 

Blue to her, Lance to him. Hunk cares deeply for both his friends, despite being on opposite sides of the worst conflict of super powers in their lifetimes. 

He’s been trying - trying so, so hard to keep out of their personal lives. He respects them both. They’re adults, they can make their own decisions. 

But watching them both try to flirt with each other in all the wrong ways hurt.

He sets her down outside her bedroom door. “Okay, if you don’t need an intervention tell me, what did Blue do when you tried to set fire to the warehouse.”

Pidge’s brows furrow. “He tried to apprehend me, like normal.” She sighs. “He almost had me that time too. He’s super creative on the fly, and so adaptable! No matter what I do he figures out a way around it!”

_ “She’s so fast, Hunk, and way too clever, always keeping me on my toes. I wish she was on our side.” _

Hunk wants to scream. When Shiro asked him to play double agent, he never in his wildest dreams expected it to entail playing matchmaker for his two best friends. 

“We are going out, Pidge, to the arcade, so you can mash at the pinball machine as long as you want. Wear something nice.” 

And meet Lance as a civilian, properly. 

Pidge hums. “Well, I guess I could wear that purple dress.” She brightens. “I haven’t worn it in a long time, not since the war started. Great idea, Hunk!”

She skips into her room and Hunk lets his forehead hit the wall. He texts Lance’s secret number, informing him to be at the arcade in a half hour and to also wear something nice.

He was going to make this the best night of their lives even if he had to do everything himself. 


	42. dating plance keeping it a secret from the others on the Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> canon divergent, mild angst, established relationship

“That’s it! I’m done!” Pidge yells, throwing her headset onto the ground. 

Shiro sighs, deeply. “Pidge, we  _ have  _ to learn how to form Voltron.” Almost instantly Pidge feels terrible. There’s so much on his shoulders and she isn’t helping in the slightest. 

“I know,” she admits. “I just… I just don’t like people roving around in my head.”

“Okay, let’s take a break then,” Shiro says, taking off his own headset. Meet back here after supper. 

Pidge exhales in relief. Her eyes find Lance, who gives her a sympathetic look… which is cut off when Hunk hugs her. 

“I’m sorry for looking into your head-hole,” he tells her as Pidge sucks in her chest. An entire year of avoiding Hunk’s questioning eyebrows leaves her more paranoid he’ll figure out her secret than ever. “I’ll try not to, but I swear the more walls you put up the more I want to know.”

She shivers. If it's really that way every time they actually form Voltron, she may have to eventually come clean about being a girl. “I appreciate it Hunk. I’m tired. I’m gonna go take a nap I think.”

He lets go. “Sure, of course! Just… let me know if you need anything.” He pauses, looking terribly guilty, which in turns makes Pidge terribly suspicious. He leans in. “Aaaanything.”

“I’m good, Hunk. Thanks.” She hates being so curt after he’s always made such an effort to be nice to her, but she’s in too deep at this point.

Pidge escapes - down the hallway and all the way to her room. Soon she’ll have sweet solitude and take some time to breathe and figure out how they’re going to form Voltron without getting into her head and —

“Pidge, wait!”

At the threshold, door open, Pidge sighs in defeat as Lance comes dashing towards her, slumping against the wall as he reaches her. 

“You didn’t have to come. The others are getting suspicious enough,” Pidge says. When he doesn’t respond, still out of breath, she rolls her eyes and drags him into the room, closing the door behind them. 

Lance gasps. “Katie,” he says, sending a chill down her spine from a name she hasn’t heard anyone say in over a year. “We aren’t at the Galaxy Garrison anymore. There’s literally no reason for you to keep your secret.”

Pidge bites her lip. He’s right, as much as she hates to admit it. The entire reason behind her secret identity was to slip into the Garrison. But she’s been Pidge Gunderson for so long… “I’ve been leading Hunk along for so long, and it's still… private, you know?”

He wraps her arms around her, planting a soft kiss in her hair. “If anyone’s going to understand, it’s Hunk. He’s a good guy. You know that. No one is going to hold this against you. We want to help find your family, let us,” he pleads.

She sniffs back tears and holds him closely back. “You are so lucky you figured it out so fast. I’d have kept this from you too. It hurts just thinking about it. Thanks for having my back, tailor.”

Lance chuckles. “Anytime, Pidge. We’ll find your family, I swear it.”

Pidge takes those words to heart. He’d kept her secret this long, she knows he’ll keep this promise too.


	43. deal with the devil to reclaim lost love - temp character death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning for temporary character death and gore

"Lance? Lance!"

Pidge sobs. Screams. Shakes. None of these things can help Lance.

Not when he's already dead.

Normally her sharp mind can handle anything. After all, she handled Shiro's 'betrayal' with nerves of steel, as the others had said. But the blaster sized hole in Lance’s chest, where his lungs and flesh have disintegrated and she stares through him onto the rocky surface of this barren planet, away from everything they both love, breaks her.

For the first time in what feels like forever, she doesn't know what to do.

"A pity," her opponent, Lance's  _ murderer _ , says. "I didn't want to kill him."

Sorrow turns back to rage. "You monster!" Pidge yells, throwing her body towards him, bayard sparkling with electricity.

The druid, shrouded in black, teleports out of the way. "I do not wish for you to join him, Green Paladin. I am only after the Lions. Tell me where they are and I will leave you be."

"Fat chance!"

Pidge launches her bayard towards him. In turn, the druid sends electricity from his fingertips that not only beats out the bayard, but comes through and lights Pidge's muscles up with pain. She collapses to the ground.

She cries. For Lance. For failing. For how under prepared they were.

"Tell me what I want to know."

"N-no," Pidge gasps, even as boney fingers dig into her scalp.

The druid sighs. "What a waste. Must I destroy Earth itself to get what I want?"

Pidge gasps, eyes flying open. "D-don't! We don't know! None of us do! Don't bring Earth into this!"

His eyeless gaze bores into her soul. "Perhaps we can reach an arrangement, little Paladin. A life for the location of the Lions."

A life. The two words flicker with a hope that Pidge knows she should hold onto, yet she does. All the should-have-beens run through her mind like a slideshow. A wedding, a family, work life, playing video games, growing old together.

"I - I already told you I don't know where the Lions are. None of us do," she breathes, on the verge of tears.

"There is an object you can get for me that will. A Paladin will have a much easier time finding it. Do so for me, and I will bring life back to your comrade."

Pidge knows she shouldn't. This deal could doom them all.

But for Lance she'll do anything.

"It's a deal," she says.

The druid drops her and she lands on the ground roughly. When she turns over, the druid has engulfed Lance in a dark pink light. As it fades, his chest is whole and... and he breathes. Unconsciously and slow, but  _ alive _ .

The druid turns to her. "You have one year from today, or I will take back his life."

Like a cloud to the wind, he's gone.

Lance groans. "Pidge?"

She's by his side in an instant, tears streaming down her face. She kisses him.

Comically, he mumbles in surprise, but soon is no longer struggling as he wraps his arms around her.

He's safe, for the next year he's safe. And Pidge is going to make sure they make the most of it.


	44. A makes deal with demon to save B and does not tell B until their time is up - angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> established relationship (can be considered sequel to chapter 43)
> 
> angst, unresolved ending (trending unhappy)

Lance adjusts the straps of his backpack, the weight of it - filled with all their camping gear - really straining his shoulders. His feet hurt. It’s hot and sticky. Giant leaves swat in his face nearly as often as the mosquitos do. 

The only reason he tolerates it is because Pidge wanted this, and far be it from him to deny the former Green Paladin a camping trip in the jungle. 

But that won’t stop him from complaining. 

“Urgh, Pidge,” he whines, body slumped forward as he trudges behind her. 

Pidge whacks through the dense brush with a machete. His heart pounds a bit, seeing his wife blazing the trail like a pro, just as hot and sweaty as he is, makes him thirsty in more ways than one. 

“Just a little bit longer, Lance,” she promises, voice teetering on desperation. “It’s around here somewhere.”

Lance hadn’t known Pidge was into archaeology when she first started looking for this medieval chalice, but he supposed the topic just had never come up. Between video games and their work at the Garrison and shared pasts there were still plenty of passing hobbies the two of them hadn’t shared with each other. Now that he thinks of it, Lance hadn’t told her about his lifeguard job back in high school. 

Maybe he’d take her to the beach for their first wedding anniversary and it would come up then. It was only a few weeks away and would be the perfect way to rinse off all this grossness of the jungle. 

Speaking of anniversaries…

“Hey, Pidge, hasn’t it been about a year since you started looking for this thing?”

Pidge stops. She kneels, her hands shaking. “A year to the day come midnight.”

Lance sighs, looking up at the setting sun. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should stop and enjoy the sunset.” Blood pumps into his cheeks as he wiggles his eyebrows. “Make it a little romantic. Maybe even get a little risque all the way out here in the wilderness.”

Pidge whirls around and growls in rage, setting him back. “You don’t understand! We have to find it before midnight!” Her eyes widen in realization. “S-sorry, it’s not you, Lance. I’m not mad at you. We just… we  _ have _ to find this chalice.”

His mouth hangs, worry creeping into his heart. The last time he’d seen Pidge this frazzled and scared, she was held against the wall about to be  _ tortured _ .

“Okay, I got it,” he says calmly, hands up in surrender in front of him. He takes a step forward. “Maybe we can— OW!” Lance falls, his toes throbbing at the impact.

“Lance!” Pidge yells in concern, soon kneeling at his side. “Are you okay? You—” she gasps. “You… this is it…”

He rolls onto his butt and a smile creeps to his face as Pidge holds the gold chalice adorned with jewels of all colors. 

“I can feel Green’s quintessence. This is definitely it,” she says excitedly, but also in relief. 

“Awesome. So we can go home now? Put it in the Garrison museum?” he asks with a laugh.

The temperature suddenly drops. The coolness is a relief, but also abnormal - Lance’s sense are on alert. 

“I believe it is for me.”

Lance turns to the low voice that isn’t him or Pidge. A shrouded figure  _ hovers _ above them. 

Lance jumps in front of Pidge. "Who are you? What do you want?"

A soft hand touches his back. "It's okay, Lance. He's telling the truth. Let me give this to him and then we can go home. I... I promise I'll explain everything then."

Pidge steps in front of him and holds the chalice out to the figure. "Here. Within the time limit, as promised."

The figure levitates the chalice towards himself. His face is covered but Lance can smell the delight off his face. "Very good, Paladin. I can feel your very being mixed with the Green Lion in the jewel. This is exactly what I needed."

Pidge takes Lance's hand. "Great. We're going."

And Lance tries to follow, he does, mind whirling. But the chain that is suddenly wrapped around his ankle won't let him move forward. Pidge is stopped short by one around her wrist.

"This wasn't part of the deal!" Pidge rages.

The figure laughs, a low chuckle of amusement. "I brought him back to life, and you brought me the chalice willingly. The Deal is done, what I do with the chalice was never a part of it. Now that I have the quintessence of all the Paladins, you'll serve me and bring me the Lions."


	45. Lance accidentally drinks Pidge's science project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pre-relationship  
> post canon  
> humor/start to grand adventure  
> revelation of feelings

_ Buzz _

Still under the comfortable cocoon of her blankets, Pidge rolls over and slams a palm haphazardly on her phone, ceasing the text notification. Eyes bleary and mind still muddled, she looks at the time.

Four in the morning. Who was texting her at  _ four in the morning? _

_ "How'd I get gum between my toes?!" _ is what the text says. From Lance.

Pidge groans and sets her phone on silent. If Lance wants to work the overnight shift that was his problem. She was not going to indulge him now that she was finally on a regular-ish schedule.

She wakes later in the morning to nearly a hundred text messages. Pidge gapes as she sits upright in bed, hair frazzled and still in pajamas as she scrolls through them all.

_ "Where does Pidge keep the tissues in her office? That juice was gross." _

_ "Why are these Garrison uniforms so tight? Does my butt look too big?" _

_ "Why is Pidge's calendar full of meetings with all guys? James? Ryan? Keith?! Seriously? Rizavi hangs out with everyone, why not Pidge too?" _

Pidge blinks. She never kept juice in her office. What had Lance been drinking?

_ "And I'm a guy and I'm awesome, why wouldn't she want to hang out with me? I mean, I came back to the Garrison 'cause I missed her." _

Her cheeks flush, heart thumping as she tries to figure out how to respond. Lance was loose-lipped, but to be saying such things directly to her via text leaves her sputtering for answers, her brain rebooting.

"That one was my favorite," says a familiar - dreadedly familiar voice.

Bob floats above her bed, sitting calmly in his hovering armchair.

"I'm still dreaming," Pidge states calmly, before falling back in bed and covering her head with the comforter.

"Oohhh, you're not dreaming, sweetheart!" Bob says in a far too cheery tone for this early in the morning. The phone buzzes with another incoming text. "Come on, I wanna see what he's thinking next!"

Pidge throws the covers off of her and sits up. "What he's thinking?" she asks incredulously, which quickly turns to a growl. “Wait no, back up. What are you even doing here?”

Bob nods and crosses one leg over the other, leaning into the right armrest. "You kids might have saved the universe, but there are forces after you that you can't begin to comprehend. Allura asked me to keep an eye on you. Which reminds me!"

He hovers down and taps Pidge's phone. It glows with a golden light. Leaning in, he whispers, "Lance is about to have some weird visions. His thoughts and dreams will pop up on your phone so you guys can keep a leg up on these rift creatures."

Pidge blinks, far more awake than she was even moments ago. "Wait. Rift creatures? Allura? You're telling me that Lance's every thought is going to appear as a text message?"

Bob grins vividly. "Have fun. Don't worry, he's plenty sweet on you, they'll be entertaining."

_ Buzz _

_ "Oh quiznak I'm jealous for Pidge. What kind of two-faced guy am I? She'll never believe me." _

Pidge whines, the feelings of her childhood crush filling her like a crashing wave. When she looks up, Bob is no longer there.

But the texts are still there. And they keep coming. 


	46. lance is sandman and tells pidge something very important in a dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> emotional angst/comfort

Lance yawned.

He was ready this time. Three sacks filled with the purest sleep-sand he could find at headquarters would surely be enough to finally put this girl out of her misery.

That, and he had a secret weapon.

The transporter warped him right into her bedroom - invisible, of course, couldn't have reluctant dreamers freaking out over a human-ish being suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

It's just as much of a mess as it was the night before. And the night before that. Used tissue are strewn all about. Papers filled with complex equations lay about her desk and bed, along with articles on conspiracy theories and... news articles on the Kerberos mission.

If he were human, he'd have been a pilot, Lance sympathizes. He wonders sadly, if perhaps he  _ were _ the pilot things might have turned out differently for her family.

Lance shakes his head. No, it wouldn't have. That's what he's here to tell her.

It's been a month since he took on the challenge of getting Katie Holt a restful sleep. Everyone else said it was impossible - not knowing the fate of loved ones was a mess of emotions not many sandmen wanted to navigate. Lance only took it up so he could prove his worth, if he were honest. Now he can't stop, he's grown too attached to Katie and her plight.

She's slumped over on her unmade bed tonight at least, holding the sleeping family dog and a picture of her and her brother at the launch, dried tears caked onto her face.

Lance takes a handful of sand - far more than the regulation pinch normally afforded to him - and lets it fall upon her head.

Katie blinks once, twice, before slumping against her bedframe and into a deep sleep.

Lance takes the time to adjust her head to the pillow - she will have a more restful night if her body is in a comfortable position.

He leans down, close to her ear, and whispers, "They're still alive. In space and with aliens. Voltron is the key. You'll find them, I promise."

He swears his information is good. His counterparts from Galra Central Command saw them both among the prisoners. Lance does not pity their jobs, trying to give the gladiators a restful sleep each night. They're all alive - her brother, her father, and the pilot.

Katie sleeps the best she had in months. That afternoon after lunch, she tells her mother she's going to find the rest of their family, no matter what. And that begins with enrolling at the Galaxy Garrison under a false identity.

Not... quite the reaction Lance had expected, but he's already put in his paperwork to be with her every night until she finds them, making sure she continues to get a peaceful sleep with the encouragement that she will be successful in bringing them home.


	47. sarcastic baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fluff and humor  
> married plance

Lance adjusts his jeans in a flourish and squats, keeping a weathered eye on the child. He leans in, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

The baby is cute, Lance has to hand it to him. He makes his heart bubble with delight each and every time he puts something in his mouth (usually something that probably  _ shouldn’t _ be in there) and giggles and smiles while doing so. He literally does not have the power to say no to this child.

After all, this little boy is his flesh and blood. But.

He is also a  _ Holt. _ And Lance knows the Holts are sneaky. Pidge had him fooled she was a boy for almost a full year before becoming Paladins together and for another four years she hid the fact that she had a crush on him.

Lance had always considered himself a perceptive person, in fact it was something he held as a proverbial feather in his hat. He noticed people things. So the fact that Pidge was able to lead him on twice  _ aggravates _ him to this day.

He'd settled the annoyance by marrying her. She'd thought she could avoid being wooed by the great Lancey Lance. Well! He'd shown her.

His son stares back at him, chewing happily on his teething ring. Out of nowhere, he smiles - the cutest most precious smile Lance has ever seen!

Lance tries, tries so hard not to let it get to him. "Pidge, our baby is sarcastic. He's taking up after you."

"Lance," Pidge tells him from across the living room. "He isn't even six months old. You can't tell if he's sarcastic or not." She returns to her laptop, looking over the reports for Atlas maintenance.

He goes back to the staring contest he's created with the baby. "Hunk can't babysit," he decides.

The clicking of the keyboard stops abruptly. "What?" Pidge asks incredulously. "Why?"

"Hunk will encourage him. Either he'll get more sarcastic or he'll turn that sarcasm into nosiness."

Pidge groans. "I'm more worried about him getting your ego at this point, with all the cooing and every other 'you're so handsome'."

"Well, he is," Lance insists. "He's our kid, he's the most beautiful baby in the world. Isn't that right, little bugger?"

The boy giggles.

"You better not be telling me you're more handsome than  _ me _ , Mister!"

Pidge chuckles. "Well, the more you talk to him the better. He really will be chatting up a storm before you know it if you do. He's trying to mimic you. If you think he's being sarcastic then that means you're being sarcastic."

She says it so smugly Lance can't help but scowl. Bested again in perceptiveness. What was it about Pidge that made him lose his focus?

Well, it was a good thing he married her in any case. Then he can spend a lifetime observing her properly. 


	48. Faking Dating for the Voltron Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pre-relationship  
> fake dating set up

Lance slumps down on the couch, feeling torn in three different directions, mind muddled and frazzled (as he was sure his hair actually was).

He needed a break. As much as he loved his adoring fans, the mob of a thousand screaming fangirls and their kisses left him claustrophobic and sore all over.

"Woah. What happened to you?"

Pidge walks into the living room, data pad in her hand. Coran files in behind her, hovering over her shoulder as if they'd just been discussing tactics.

Lance winces. The last thing he wants to do is admit all this in front of Pidge, but he's desperate. "Fans," he says simply. "Coran, do you think it's possible we could do some... re-branding on the Voltron Show? No one else gets this much attention. I'm starting to  _ feel _ it in training."

Coran has the audacity to laugh at him. "Can't quite take the all the love, eh? I suppose it is a lot for one Paladin to take." He laughs nervously. "Unfortunately, it's going to be quite hard to get that Loverboy image off of you."

"Great," Lance groans, throwing his head back over the couch. "Please tell me we can at least do fewer meet and greets?"

"Not possible," Coran says quickly. "You Paladins have to make personal appearances. The entire point is for the universe to love you. Zarkon may have control, but you have their hearts and minds!"

His heart sinks. Never did he ever think he'd hate the attention. "So grin and bear it?"

Pidge, oddly quiet up until now, speaks up. "They might leave him alone if he has a girlfriend."

Coran gasps as Lance's jaw drops. A girlfriend? "Where am I going to get a girlfriend?" he squawks. "I can't just pick one of my fans!"

"That's too true!" Coran supplies. "There is the risk of pushback if you were to tie yourself to another on the dating scene. Could be nasty. It'd have to be someone who could hold their own."

Lance gulps, hopeful, but not too much so, "Allura?"

He might have been seeing things, but Pidge tenses.

"Allura is quite busy with Coalition business, she wouldn't be able to keep up the act," Coran says. "You can date Pidge!"

"What?" Lance yelps. Logically, he knows it makes sense but...

"What?" Pidge squeaks equally. "Coran! I can't! There's all the projects I'm working on with Matt - and upgrades for the Castle--"

"Exactly why you have the time!" Coran says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Your brother is handling the Galra intel, and communicating with the Blades and the Coalition. With all the allies we have now, you have more time than ever! This will be perfect!"

Lance stares at Pidge. Pidge stares back at him, her eyes a storm of emotions that he can't decipher. There's trepidation there, but her body is frozen, something he's never known Pidge to be - nervous.

Why would she be nervous? It's all fake anyway.


	49. pregnancy announcement referencing the Alien movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> humor  
> family feels  
> team as family  
> Allura POV

Pidge is screaming.

Allura races towards her voice, heart pumping with fear. Not since fighting Zarkon has she heard such fright from her teammate. Several terrible thoughts run through her mind, chief among them if the Rift Entity returned as it had promised when realities were restored?

She hopes not. Not Pidge. Not after she and Lance just found their own slice of happiness after the war.

The ladies locker room of the Galaxy Garrison is empty this time of night, and only after a Paladin get-together are the two of them even here.

Oh Ancients, its as if the very flesh is being ripped from her skin so horrible is Pidge's shrieking.

"Oh quiznak no! It's going to rip out of my stomach!!" Pidge screams.

Allura rounds the lockers to see Pidge writhing on the floor. Nothing seems inherently wrong with her on the outside...

So it must be on the inside. The heart and soul, the source of the bond with the Green Lion and the other Paladins, where the Rift Entity can easily take advantage...

"Pidge, I'm here!" she shouts, kneeling beside her. "Lance and the others are on there way - where does it hurt?"

Pidge's eyes go wide and sits up. "Allura?" she squeaks, not sounding nearly as much in pain. "Lance was supposed to bring the guys here first!"

"And they'll be here soon! Hold still!" Allura demands, shoving Pidge back to the ground. "You said it was in your stomach? I'll rip that foul creature from you this instant!"

A gasp in Pidge's direction. "No, Allura, wait!"

The soft, comfort of the powers gained from Oriande fills her and releases from her hands. Probing for the creature... she finds none. There isn't a shred of rift energy anywhere in Pidge. The only thing different is...

Allura gasps, opening her eyes to a very sheepish looking Pidge. A giddy feeling fills her heart, bouncing on her knees. "Pidge!" Allura hugs her friend and teammate. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!"

Pidge laughs lightly. "Thanks 'lura," she mutters into Allura's clothing.

"Pidge!" Lance yells. "A-Allura?"

Allura looks up to see Lance careening around the corner, skidding humorously to a stop. Hunk and Shiro stop behind him, and Keith jumps over a row of lockers.

Pidge inches away and laughs nervously. "Jigs up, Lance. Allura got here first."

Lance deflates. "Aww man. It was the perfect plan!"

"Wait," Hunk says with a furrowed brow. "Pidge isn't dying?"

"You said she had an alien parasite in her stomach!" Keith accuses angrily, glaring daggers at Lance.

"Not an alien," Pidge supplies. Allura's heart is warmed when her friend shares a knowing look her way. "But definitely something in my stomach. Womb, to be exact."

The room is silent, before Lance clears his throat, looking guilty. "We just wanted to be clever. Pidge is more than fine. Just wanted you all to be the first to know."

Hunk cries a river of happy tears. Shiro offers a pat on the back to Lance as Keith continues to glare at him... but softens as he kneels to give Pidge a hug.

Allura sighs in relief... but with new life there is always darkness in the shadows. The newest of their number will be vulnerable and Allura will be ready to fend off any otherworldly threats to Pidge and Lance's child. 


	50. Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past major character death  
> established relationship  
> plance kid

Lance yawns, his eyes wandering across the kitchen. The old grandfather clock ticks away the slow evening. How can it only be seven-o’clock? It felt closer to ten.

 

With a sigh he collects his paperwork into a pile, shaping the sides together as he jostles the stack between his hands and the dining room table. He adjusts his reading glasses - gone are the days of his perfect vision. He misses flying, but being an instructor suits him fine, allowing him to recall his overeager youth. Besides, no matter the strides they make with Altean technology with the newer fighter jets, none of them would ever come close to being a Lion of Voltron.

He still remembers the thrill of flying the Blue Lion for the first time. Never mind they'd been running for their lives, he'd never felt more secure piloting a ship before. He'd be forever grateful to what the Lions gave to him and the other Paladins, these bonds that last a lifetime.

And beyond.

"Dad?"

Lance startles to attention from his daydream and swivels around in the chair to see his young daughter standing a few feet away with a math textbook in her arms.

He grins and waves her over to the table, which she happily does and sets down her book. "All done with homework?" he asks.

She frowns. "I'm having trouble with a few problems. Can you help me?"

A sense of pride fills him. His daughter almost never asks him for assistance with homework. For being only in the third grade, she manages her workload like a well intentioned college student. Once upon a time he thought he'd dread this day, but the feeling of being useful to her makes him as giddy as a fresh cadet in the simulator for the first time.

"Grab a seat, sweetheart. Show me what you've got."

She sits on the chair beside him and opens up her textbook... her Differential Equations textbook.

Not just acting like a college student. Though technically in the third grade, she is well ahead of her years in math.

"It's this one," she tells him. "I figured out how to get x, but it doesn't feel right. It's too easy." She bites her lip, looking up at him with trepidation in her eyes. "Did I do this right?"

Lance never took math this high. He had been perfectly happy with his first level Calculus - that he technically never finished thanks to becoming a Paladin. He stares at the numbers on the textbook page and also his daughter's work.

Its gibberish to him. He can't help her.

Setting a shaking hand on her shoulder, he gulps and says, "Sorry, kiddo. This is a little bit beyond me. You'll have to talk to your professor in the morning. Why don't you keep working on the rest of the problems in the meantime, okay?"

She gives him a distinctly sympathetic smile. "It's okay, Dad. Thanks for trying." She gathers up her work and gives him a kiss on the cheek before heading back to her room.

Lance gulps, jaw quivering as she turns the corner. The tears come soon after. She's just like her mother. Smart, brilliant, kind... Pidge would have been able to help her without a problem.

But Pidge is dead and their daughter gets older and remembers less of her every day.

That hurts Lance far more than not being able to help with her homework. 


	51. Pidge and Katie are twins

“So, Pidge,” Lance says with a calm completely absurd for the situation at hand, “you have a twin now.”

 

“I’m Katie,” Katie - the one wearing Pidge's casual outfit says. Oh boy was this awkward.

 

“It’s not like I meant for this to happen,” Pidge adds when Lance turns to the one wearing a dress, her shoulders slumping. “But yes.”

 

“This is awesome,” Matt adds from his seat on the couch, on the edge of his seat. “I have two genius sisters now.”

 

Katie, seated next to him, tears up. “But I’m a clone,” she says with a wobbly lip. “There’s just as good a chance I could hurt everyone like Shiro did. Who knows what kind of control Haggar still has on me.”

"We'll figure out something, I promise," Matt assures her, taking her shoulder and wrapping her in for a hug. "It's my turn to save you."

Lance locks his eyes onto Pidge, noting the way she clings a little too tightly to the skirt of her dress and how her gaze never drifts away from the sight of her brother holding a girl who both is and is not her. The unease is clear as she takes a small step backwards.

"Hey, this is great, isn't it?" Lance says, nudging Pidge's shoulder. If there was one thing he was decent at, it was diffusing tense situations. Pidge was in dire need of it now. "You were always complaining about not having enough time to get work done. We're gonna be set!"

Pidge is like a deer staring into the headlights of a car. "Yeah," she responds numbly, sparing the slightest of glances his way. "I'm gonna use the bathroom - was in that cryo-pod a long time."

She's gone before Lance can get another word in. He exchanges a worried glance with Matt, who holds Katie even closer, allowing her to cry her fill on his shoulder.

Lance catches up swiftly, a gift of his longer strides. "Pidge," he whispers gently, "Talk to me."

"What is there to talk about?" Pidge inhales, a clear attempt to hold back her own tears. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine about it," he tells her.

"I just spent the last year in a cryo-pod, Lance." Pidge's chest rises and falls rapidly and she breathes shorter and quicker as if to match it. "I lost a year of my life. My brother is holding the person who took my place and piloted my Lion - am I even the Green Paladin anymore?"

"The Green Lions knows, I bet she'll be thrilled to see you back," Lance assures her. Yet... in the back of his mind, Shiro's return plays like a horror movie. He prays it's different this time.

Pidge sniffles, breathing in deep. "I missed you," she cries, wrapping her arms around his torso and holding him tight. "I'm scared I'll lose you. I'm not the Pidge you spent the last year with."

"You're not going to 'lose me'," Lance assures her, hugging her back tightly. "You're Pidge and we still have all our memories from before you were captured. You and Katie are both my friends and that will never change. I swear."

He can tell she isn't yet convinced, the way she somehow manages to hold him even closer. Lance swears to himself that he will make this right. He'd asked Pidge to be his friend when they first became a simulator crew at the Galaxy Garrison, he wasn't about to take that back.


	52. Pidge feels lost after war Plance goes on joyride in Blue Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> established relationship  
> post canon  
> canon continuation

Pidge taps the stylus against her tablet, feeling distinctly… unhappy. 

The Defenders Project was in full swing. The Land and Sea vehicles were ahead of schedule on testing, all performing above and beyond the team’s wildest dreams. The Galaxy Garrison was a bustling hub of people from all over the universe. This was where engineers and scientists of all kinds wanted to be. This was where things were happening and Pidge was at the head of it all. 

Yet… something wasn’t sitting right in her gut and it bothered her to no end that she didn’t know what it was. 

A knock at the door. 

“The war’s over Pidge,” Lance says teasingly as he leans against the doorframe to her office. “No need for you to be working so late anymore.” He’s dressed in his formal Garrison uniform, the one that denotes him as a Paladin. There’d been a dignitary meeting that night - one that Pidge hadn’t felt the need to attend, not with this weird feeling in her gut - and Lance was dressed to show at a glance exactly who he was. He was beholden to the universe as a Paladin and his home was Earth.

Pidge sighs and looks over at the time. It was the next day already. Quiznak, she hadn’t even realized…

A yawn interrupts her train of thought. “I know,” she admits when she’s finished, tiredness settling in hard. “I lost track of time.”

Lance chuckles and swaggers into the room. “A good thing we’re going to the same place then.” He offers a hand to help her out of her work chair. Whether it’s her sleepiness or own selfish desires, she takes it and overcompensates, bumping into his chest.

She doesn’t pull away and neither does he. 

Pidge listens to the beat of his heart, ear pressed up against his chest. Lance wraps an arm around her back and begins to sway.

“Well, I’ve had my perfect evening,” Lance says. “Everyone got along at the party and now I get my slow dance with you.” 

His lips press onto the top of her head and she melts. She will fall asleep if this continues. 

“I’m glad someone had a good night,” she mutters, following his lead in this most simplest of dances. 

Pidge has known Lance long enough that she feels the moment in the silence that follows when his lightheartedness turns more serious. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s the problem,” she moans. “I don’t know. On paper everything is perfect, but there’s this feeling in my gut I can’t shake.” She sighs. Perhaps… “Is… is all this what Allura really would have wanted?”

“What? You mean the Defenders?” Lance hums. “I mean… she’d want us to continue protecting the universe. Kinda hard to do that without the Lions.”

“I can’t help but think that something is off,” she admits. “The more time I spend around the new Vehicles, the more uneasy I get.” Pidge huffs. “I know they aren’t supposed to feel like Voltron - nothing will  _ ever _ feel like Voltron - but it feels more and more like the  _ opposite  _ of Voltron.”

“Opposite… of Voltron?” Lance laughs lightly. “Pidge, I think you need some sleep. I’m taking you home so you can do just--”

A rumble that feels more like a purr vibrates through the Paladin Bond. It’s been years, but it’s just as strong as before. 

But its not her Lion. “Lance?”

“Blue’s outside,” he whispers hoarsely. “She… she’s alone. She… wants me to pilot her. She wants to show us something.” 

The Voltron Lions were not in the habit of messing around. Blue was here for a reason and Pidge did not think it was a coincidence that this was happening as she confessed her uneasy feelings to Lance. 

“Well,” Pidge says, “we’d better not keep her waiting.”


	53. Rapunzel AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> imprisonment  
> heights

"A little to the left!"

Pidge hopes her glare burns a hole in Lance's brain as she growls in frustration. Still, she follows his instruction, grabbing her ridiculously long hair into a clump and scooting her bum across the windowsill just a little bit more to the left. She bites her lip, mentally calculating what it would take to drop her braid on top of his thick head.

This high up it would be impossible - her hair isn't quite that long yet.

She gives Lance the benefit of doubt, he is trying to rescue her after all. The least she can do is let him try.

So she lets her hair go. It falls down. Down. Down. All the way down before it dangles before Lance. He sends a stupid grin up her way and a wave, causing her heart to beat faster and faster. Pidge allows herself to admit that it would be nice, for once, if she could speak with him face to face instead of exchanging letters by crow or yelling down at him.

So she hopes... that now he's strong enough to climb the tower using her hair and that she is strong enough to help him. All before Haggar returns.

He tests her hair like any other rope and sets a foot against the stone tower. With one heave he puts all his weight between the tower and her hair.

Pidge snatches the other end of her braid so Lance's weight doesn't rip her hair out. She pulls, backing up all the way to the other side of her room - anything to get him up quicker.

Agonizing minutes pass. Pidge mentally keeps time, her heart fluttering with hope when their previous record doing this is passed. Lance has never held on for this long before. Maybe... maybe this was finally...

In a heart stopping moment, a hand reaches into her room from the window. Pidge's hair goes slack and Lance tumbles head over heels inside. He pants, splayed out on the floor in tiredness.

Pidge goes to him, kneeling and leaning over. "Lance..." she asks hesitantly. Logically she knows it's him but... after all these years of a distant friendship, to have him here in front of her seems too good to be true.

He opens one eye, smirking. "I told you I'd get up here one day," he says. His tone is teasing, but his eyes shine with an affection. "You're even prettier up close."

Pidge's cheeks burn, for she was having the same thought about him. "Don't get too comfortable," she warns.

"Or you'll throw me out the window?" he teases, throwing her regular threat back at her.

"If things go wrong, it won't be me throwing you out the window," Pidge frets. If Haggar were to catch them... Lance would face a far worse fate than falling to his death. "Are you ready?"

Lance nods. "As ready as I'll ever be." Sitting up, he flicks his wrist. A stream of water swirls around his hand, at his beck and call. "Let's get this lock picked first. Then," he smiles, a gentle and excited gleam in his eyes, "I'll take you on that adventure I promised you.”


	54. battle spirit Lance and sorcerer Pidge

Pidge breathes. Deep inhale. Soft exhale. Her body is loose and relaxed, eyelids heavily shut and hands resting comfortably on her knees. The grass tickles at her bare legs not covered by her shorts, but through a few minutes of meditation it no longer bothers her.

In her own little world, Pidge’s senses are heightened. The flapping of birds’ wings are heavier than usual and their talons tap hard and fast as the flock lands on the concrete path behind her. Bread crumbs scatter dully and the clacking of beaks fill the air as the pigeons feed. 

Though the sounds become a bit annoying the more she focuses on them, she reminds herself this training is necessary. Digging deep into her soul, Pidge picks up on one of her quintessence lines and follows the thread from her heart to her hands. It creates a gentle warmth, almost immediately interrupted by the rapidly growing grass tickling at her wrist.

Yup, super not-magic powers still there. 

Pidge preoccupies herself with the other sounds of the park to ignore the annoyance, a man playing with his dog, some school friends chatting away on a picnic lunch, small children running through the flock of birds… 

Then a faint jingle turns Pidge’s peaceful meditation upside down.

A sharp gasp from beside her signals the end of not-magic practice. 

“Pidge,” Lance whispers, at the precipice of full blown excitement. “We  _ have  _ to.”

The jingle of the ice cream cart grows louder, and the small children squeal in delight now that they hear. 

Pidge opens her eyes, greeting the partly cloudy sky at the city park once more. She sighs in defeat, though her heart feels light and a small smile tugs on her face. Lance enjoying the modern world, reacting to all of its perks, has been a joy for her to observe since she first summoned him. His childlike wonder at the smallest of conveniences was endearing - and to Pidge's heart’s downfall, so too was becoming his cheesy flirting. “So much for practicing concentration,” she says without malice. “I’ve got some cash in my purse. Go ahead.”

Lance falls over onto his back, lanky arms stretching back to grab her purse before stretching back up and sticking his fingers inside. “One of these days, I’m going to find a way to treat  _ you _ ,” he promises. “What kind do you want? That coffee one is to die for.”

The answer is peanut butter, but she doesn’t get a chance to tell Lance that. Beneath her crossed legs, the grass instantaneously withers, turning an ugly brown only where she touches. Dark energy seeps from the ground and around her legs. Pidge’s heart beats with trepidation, not often is the source of not-magic so powerful she can see it without concentrating. 

Fear rises in her throat, along with a cry for help. “La--”

The ground swallows her. Daytime turns to dark as she passes into the Underground. Pidge snarls as she follows the tendrils of darkness to the torchlight far below her, belonging to caster. Almost as soon as she sees it, the flame is extinguished, plunging her into darkness. 

“Fine,” Pidge says dangerously. “I’ll just make my own.” 

With a flick of her wrist, golden streams of her own quintessence light her path and do battle with the darkness. 

A flash of blue tears by, illuminating more of the cavern-like space, slicing through the dark energy that held her.

She smirks, a grateful nod to her left. “How many are down there? Think we can take ‘em?”

Lance floats beside her, no longer dressed in plain clothes, but rather in flowing blue robes and armor fit for a king. His sword pulses with energy, itching for battle. 

“Please, Pidge,” he airs, “This will barely whet Red’s appetite.” He twirls the sword into a battle stance, ready to thrust downwards towards their enemies. “Ready when you are.”

His bravado makes her heart do flip-flops. Ever since realizing she had a crush on the summoned battle spirit, it seemed like anything he did made her fall for him even more. 

A thought to meditate on later. For now, they needed to save the city.


	55. Secret Dating Clear Day

One shot. That’s all Lance needs in order to take out his target as his finger itches on the trigger. One deep breath, then another to quell the growing butterflies in his stomach. He's been on so many missions as a Paladin, a fighter of freedom - what is the cause for alarm now?

"Lance?"

Lance yelps, his alarm sending the shot high up into the booth... and then directly down onto the target, knocking it over.

The vendor screams, placing his hands on his head in disbelief. "No one was supposed to be able to knock that over!" he bemoans.

Lance pays no attention to his victory, placing a hand over his chest as he turns around. "Allura! I didn't even hear you sneak up on me."

He recovers quickly, snorting as he really takes in the strange sight in front of him. Allura's hands are both full of the largest funnels of cotton candy-like food he's ever seen and on her head is a miner's hat crowned with jewels of all colors, all shining brightly against the soft fairy lights that illuminate the Clear Day grounds.

"I'm so sorry, Lance, I did not mean to interrupt your concentration," she says, her face falling.

Lance laughs, waving it off. "Don't worry about it, Allura. I got what I needed. Having fun after all?"

"More than I ever could have imagined," she sighs happily. "I'm so glad I came. I just discovered that Shiro will be taking part in the arm wrestling tournament soon. I'm trying to find everyone so we can cheer him on."

Lance grins. "Oh awesome! Just let me get my prize and I am there!"

The vendor grumbles. "What one do you want?"

Lance hums, gaze flickering across the row of stuffed animals and cheap looking toys. Perhaps something green would be best, in absence of anything too techie...

"I'll take the green worm thing," he tells the vendor, who begrudgingly unhooks the stuffed toy from the ceiling and hands it over.

"There," he growls. "Now go take your luck to some other poor sod." The metal window slams shut in Lance's face and a closed for business signs drops down from over head.

Allura leans over, the curious curve of her mouth soon turning into one of delight. "Oh, that's a Nebularta! Pidge and the ones that live in her room will be most happy."

Lance chokes. "W-what?! Who said I was going to give this to Pidge because we're dating?"

Allura's mouth hangs open before her eyes narrow in suspicion. "You have now."

His heart sinks and so too do his shoulders as he lets out a heavy sigh. "Kind of. We were going to wait until after the war before being more overt about it."

Rather than disappointed that he hadn't pursued her romantically, Allura lights up like a Christmas Tree, squealing with unparalleled delight.

"I knew it!" she declared, shoving her treats into one of his hands and grabbing the other. Lance winces as she nearly crushes it. "Come! Pidge has confided in me something she truly wants. Let me show you! After that I can collect my winnings from Hunk."

Something Pidge truly wants? Lance gulps as he allows Allura to lead him away, heart pounding. He hopes his luck will hold. 


	56. Pikelavar captured by bounty hunter

Well, now at least it all made sense, why Pike hadn't wanted to enter the village.

 

Meklavar can't shake the shame of not listening to her comrade when they'd first come here. Now they both pay the price, tied up like a present in the room  _ they  _ had paid for. She wiggles and squirms, reaching helplessly for the dagger she keeps in her boot but  _ curse her short arms _ she can't reach it.

For his part, Pike works the ropes and she trusts him to get out of his more than she. After all, if a thief couldn't escape this who could?

Yet its been hours, Meklavar is sure of it, and they are still stuck. Pike pants, nearing exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" she worries.

"I'll be fine just... keep wiggling and loosening the rope."

There's a hopelessness in his voice that Meklavar wishes she hadn't heard, but his body language says otherwise, pushing and squirming to set them free.

It carries on for several more minutes until boots pound closer and closer to the room.

"Hopefully we'll get some answers now," she says, though she has little relief in the prospect.

Pike gulps. "Mek... whatever happens... just remember I love you. Okay?"

"I - I know," she responds. Stupid. Dumb stupid Meklavar. What kind of response was that?

The door opens before she can clarify. Meklavar gulps as their assailant walks in and closes the door behind him. The muscular dragonborn towers above them, grinning toothily as he approaches. Despite the unkind smile making her stomach curdle, she glowers as best she can.

"What do you want with us?" she hisses.

Her heart stops as he kneels and cups her chin, rising her gaze to his. "There is always a hefty reward out for Olkarian dwarves," their captor drags lowly, "dead or alive."

Meklavar's mind goes numb, terror shaking her limbs. He means to bring her to Daibazaal Mountain. She'd braved the journey to the wretched place to rescue her father and brother from the Galra quintessence mines, but had sworn to never go back.

Now she may not have a choice.

"As for the mongrel," the bounty hunter says as he stands - for what else could he be. He sets his massive hand over Pike's head and ruffles it, as if he were a child or a... pet, "just a bonus punching bag." He chuckles cruelly. "Been a while since I had the pleasure of declawing one."

Pike trembles. "I'll rip off your scales," he promises with an inhuman growl. Meklavar can't remember the last time she'd seen him so utterly terrified.

This bounty hunter will kill him if she does nothing. Meklavar takes a deep breath. The risk is calculated but... this is how she shows Pike she loves him.

"Let him go," Meklavar pleads. "If you do I... I'll go with you quietly. No struggle."

Pike gasps. "Mek, n--!"

The bounty hunter laughs, his claws pressing dangerously against Pike's throat. "A dwarf trading her life for her pet. Adorable, if anything. Very well. So long as you allow yourself to be handed over, I'll not kill the mongrel and even set him free. Until then, you'd best be on your best behavior."


	57. Music Man AU

Lance leans back against the bookshelf, feeling rightly pleased with himself as he watches his potential client pour over the music catalog on a nearby reading table.

Matt looks up, his eyes shining like stars. “How many did you say we could get?” he asks breathlessly.

Lance can’t help but smirk. He’s got him hook, line, and sinker. Thrill fills him at the prospect of pulling off the scam of the century, selling band uniforms and instruments to a town that had no interest in them. But all Lance needed to do was convince one person - the right person - and the cash was his.

“Seventy-six trombones,” Lance supplies smoothly, gliding over and placing an arm around Matt’s shoulders. “Imagine,” he says with a grand wave of his hand, “imagine seventy-six trombones leading a big parade. With,” Lance pauses to think of a reasonable but still large number, “a hundred and ten cornets close at hand.”

Light footsteps that Lance only notices through years of having to be perceptive to stay ahead of the law approach. “Matt?” calls the man’s younger sister. “I’m done with putting the new books away, I’m headed out to lu--  _ you _ ,” she growls.

Lance freezes and only through a practiced act can he force the cheshire grin to stay on his face when his gaze rises to meet a positively irate Katie Holt. The one person who hasn't fallen for his ruse yet. The one person who he's more impressed with than any other.

"Pidge!" he exclaims before any more accusatory words can come from her mouth, gliding gracefully and sweeping an arm around her shoulders. She glowers at him but doesn't move. "I was just telling your brother how we're going to put on the most amazing spectacle Plaht City has ever seen."

"Seventy-six trombones, Pidge!" Matt says gleefully. His sparkling eyes and rising happy tone tell Lance that he has the man hook, line and sinker. "Think about the tourists we can get into town with that kind of spectacle - tourists that would buy things from the shops - including books - and give some  _ life _ to this place."

In an instant her icy facade melts at her brother's words, frown wobbling into a tentative pensive line. "But where will we get the money for something like this? No one here can afford musical instruments."

There is his opening.

For the first time since arriving in this sleepy little town, there is finally a crack in her stern exterior. "You're the most perceptive person in town, Pidge. Think of it as an investment," Lance says. Stepping away from the siblings, he flings his arms wide into the air. "Think of the revenue you can gain from such a venture. Music festivals bring people into town every weekend! And a few musicians may even seek their fortune in larger cities and remember the humble start they had here. And above all," he continues, "think of the moral boost and the joy this will bring to everyone to let loose and have a little fun."

That Lance means from the bottom of his heart.

But when he sees the little smile tug on Pidge's face, his heart drops. He knows he's won, but for the first time since he came with the intention to scam the town, he feels like the scum of the Earth at what kind of moral  _ dump _ they'll experience once he takes off with their money and then Pidge really  _ will _ hate him.

He dislikes that prospect most of all.


	58. VLD meets DOTU

Going through the wormhole was the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea that Lance had ever had.

Not the first wormhole. No, the first wormhole that brought him to the steps of the Castle of Lions was the best decision of his life. It made him a defender of the universe and because of it he'd made his best and closest friends of the other Paladins.

But this wormhole, the one he and Pidge fled through with their heavily damaged Lions to escape Zarkon's main fleet? This was the worst decision he'd ever made.

"This is cRAzY!" says the young man in the most retro of green outfits. The one who not only looked like, but shared a name with Pidge. "You came from the other side of the wormhole and you have two of the Voltron Lions too???"

"And you're flying the Blue Lion?" Lance's eyes bug out now, and had been every time he lays eyes on the mirror image of himself but  _ older _ . The one who also shares his name. "You're not flying the Red Lion in your reality?"

It's so quiznaking weird.

"Uh, no," he said, biting his lip. "Keith flies the Red Lion."

And their Keith, mild mannered, polite, kind and red track suit wearing Keith, drops his jaw. "Who flies the Black Lion then?"

"Shiro," Pidge supplies, sending the other Pidge a wary side eye as he looks her up and down with amazement. "And we're not really the same person. Pidge is a nickname. Call me Katie."

"But we are each other's equivalent. Who's your Chip?"

"Who?"

"Shiro? You mean Quiet?"

"Shiro is not really all that quiet."

"Okay, I think that's enough," older Lance says, crossing his arms. "I think we'd better take you to the Castle to see Allura. Maybe she'll figure out how to send you back from wherever you came from... assuming," Lance gulps as Lance gives him the ugliest glare, "you aren't Drule spies."

"What! No!" Lance exclaims. He doesn’t know what a Drule is, but he doesn’t have to think long about the context. "We were on the  _ run _ from Zarkon! Look at how messed up our Lions are!"

"Sure they are." Lance says skeptically. "I bet Lotor put you up to damaging them on purpose. Cloned us to gain entrance to the Castle and kidnap Allura."

Lance's jaw drops. "Who the  _ quiznak _ is  _ Lotor _ ?"

"If you are from another reality," other Pidge chimes in. "Then prove it."

"Like, other than what are clearly the Voltron Lions? That you  _ saw _ us piloting?" Lance squeaks.

"You want proof we aren't clones, right?" Pidge inquires thoughtfully. "What kind of proof are you even looking for if not our actual, physical Lions?"

"Do something not-clone like," older Lance suggests. "Do something crazy and unexpected."

Lance locks eyes with his Pidge, his brain scrambling to come up with any sort of idea. 'Something crazy' was too vague and his brain short circuited. But his mind relaxes as Pidge grins and blushes - he trusts she has something up her sleeve.

"Sorry, Lance," is his only warning before she summons her bayard. Just like the first time, her cute little bayard shocks the living daylights out of him. Unlike last time, all pain is forgotten as soft skin presses against his lips. When he falls to his knees, Pidge is blushing and licking her plump lips. Alternate reality Pidge, Keith, and Lance look on in horror.

Pidge just kissed him and his mind is blown wide open.


	59. Pidge and Lance in an air vent on mission

Pidge taps gently on the thin metal of the air vent, the marvel of how structurally sound it is to hold not only her weight, but also that of Lance, crosses her mind only briefly. Finding the bridge without a map has been not been an easy task. The information rests in the back of her mind, compartmentalized along with all the useless trivia she and Lance had quizzed each other on the way here, to relieve nerves.

They've run missions like this so many times before, but being in the middle of a Galra base with only a teammate, a bayard, and her wits still keeps Pidge on edge. Its her and Lance against an entire battle ship full of aliens who would torture and kill them. Commander Bineck more than most - he's the only Galra commander who has managed to counteract her hacking attempts. If Pidge is to get past his firewall, she has to do so from the bridge. And they need his systems down in order to get much needed supplies to the planet below and make contact with the underground government.

Pidge is stressed and annoyed that she doesn't own the hacking fight this time around. That was her thing, she's supposed to take care of it with much more ease than this and from a distance, not risk her life _and_ Lance's like this.

White, black, and blue appears in front of her. Pidge gasps and coughs, not realizing she'd been holding her breath.

"Lance," she hisses softly, "get your foot out of my face."

Metal creaks as he shifts around in the confined space. "I think my leg fell asleep. I need to stretch," he whispers back hurriedly. "Can we get out of here yet?"

Pidge taps the metal again. "I don't think we're even close." Its so disheartening. The team is counting on her. In normal circumstances she would be thrilled to be sharing such a confined space with Lance, relishing in his need to be in _her_ space and her heart jumping when he put his arm around her, warmth tingling up her arms at the simple act. But he's behind her, the two of them tangled in a strange mess on a mission to save the planet.

"No," she snaps. Lance breathes in, about to respond when the familiar clanking of sentries marching sounds off below them. "Be serious, Lance." It hurts her to say. He's so good at being the distraction she needs, but not right now when she knows what Binek has in store for them and the pressure on her to get to the bridge and bypass that ridiculous firewall...

"I'm not a goofball!" Lance insists hotly.

Pidge blinks. What? "I never -- " But she had said it. Not just now, but before. She gapes, the image of their route to the bridge replaced by a multitude of different things she should tell him - chief among them that she appreciates his goofiness typically but she's super stressed right now and can't--

The metal that held the two of them gives way, Pidge hears her own yell blend with Lance's scream as artificial gravity sends her arm to the hard floor.

A light sigh. Before them, ahead of a squad of sentries, is Commander Binek himself.

"You Paladins are much... noisier, than I expected," he remarks calmly, hands tucked professionally behind his back. "Your military training is abysmal. Why you haven't been squashed yet is beyond even my knowledge."

 


	60. flower shop au

The silver bell rings a pleasant melody as Pidge enters the flower shop. Instantly the stress and stale feeling of her day at school melts away as the sweet aroma fills her senses. She smiles, breathing out a sigh of relief. She still had homework to finish, but only after she spent some time helping her mother.

Then Matt won’t complain about dinner being too late again and they’ll have that much more time to spend with Dad before he goes back into space. 

Pidge sets her backback behind the counter and strides into the back room where her mother is putting the finishing touches on a set of bouquets for a bridal party. Rather than traditional red roses, the bride picked lilies as the most prominent flower. It tickles at Pidge’s heart and decides that if she were to ever be married, she would do the same. 

“Hey Mom,” she greets. “Need any help?”

Colleen beams, no doubt pleased that Pidge is volunteering today. Though… there’s a glint of amusement in her eye that Pidge nearly doesn’t catch. “I’m glad you asked, Katie. I had a big order come in late yesterday for a large arrangement. The details are on the counter if you can start. I need to make bouquets for a whole other wedding party.”

A bit of pride wells in her heart at the amount of trust her mother has to start and handle an arrangement on her own. Building a computer from scratch and coding her own operating system is child’s play for her now, and she’d always enjoyed doodling on the sides of her grade school papers and notebooks, but creating arrangements in a professional way was something she was still learning. The knowledge of all the different plants and how they complimented each other, the colors, even the types of grasses, while scientific at its core, required a creative eye more than anything. 

It was like a puzzle. And PIdge loved puzzles. 

“Yeah, I can do that,” she responds, taking up a seat on a stool across the room from her mother’s workstation. She grabs the order, scribbled neatly in her mother’s handwriting on a blank receipt. It is for an extra large arrangement, and would probably take the whole night. The strangest thing is that there are no specific flowers requested, only that it use her favorites and the customer trusted her…

Pidge gasps when she sees the name of the person who commissioned the order. Lance. The same Lance that has been in and out of the shop every week or so for the last semester, begging her mother to help him pick out the perfect flower for his date of the week. It seemed he’d asked out every girl in school.

Except her. 

She hated it. She shouldn’t hate it but she did. At first she hadn’t cared, of course. He’d been a cocky, insufferable flirt since middle school. But after he started to frequent the shop, she found herself helping her mother more often. While her mother went to the back to check on things, the two of them talked video games and astronomy and promised each other they’d both get into the Galaxy Garrison after graduating high school. 

Pidge should hate him, but she can’t squash the feeling of passive rejection. She has more in common with him than any of the girls at school he asks out. Whoever he’s asking out this time… must be really special. 

For half a minute, she considers doing purposefully awful, quickly dismissing the thought because this is her mother’s shop after all. She needs to be professional. And… she doesn’t want to see Lance sad anymore than she already does when he walks through the halls after a rejection or bad date. His stupid, cocky grin, when he’s legitimately happy, is one of her favorite things in the world to see. 

For hours she pours all her favorites into the arrangement. It’s well past supper, hardly noticing when her mother goes out to the front to help customers, focused on her task just as if she were developing a new code. In the end, it's nearly as tall as her, ginger lilies dotting all across the main base, colored with prairie grass and blue bells, cat tails giving it its height. It’s beautifully simple and Pidge can’t help but smile in pride.

“It’s beautiful, Katie,” Colleen praises, placing a hand on her shoulder from behind. “I think you deserve a nice hot meal after that.”

“That’s great, ‘cause I’m starving,” Pidge agrees. “Where are you thinking for takeout?”

There’s that sparkle in her eyes again. “Oh, I was just going to drop by the store for a rotisserie chicken for me and the boys. I think you’ll get to pick to go wherever you want.”

Pidge furrows her eyebrows, confused. Until her mother opens the door to the front of the door, and in the entryway, is Lance in the flesh, twiddling his thumbs, dressed in a nice pair of jeans and dressy sweater. 

“Hey, Pidge,” he begins nervously. “So, I know this is kind of last minute, and you can totally say no if you want” he spazzes before calming and continuing his explanation “… but the planetarium is hosting that party for Galileo’s birthday and I thought we could go and um, grab a bite to eat beforehand.”

Pidge’s stomach rumbles, and she isn’t sure its just from being hungry. “Just… us?” she inquires.

He gulps. “If that’s okay. I was hoping I could bribe you with flowers?” he finishes with a hopeful smile. 

He holds no flowers. It hits her like a lightning bolt as she looks down towards the arrangement she’d spent the early evening working on. 

He’d commissioned it for her. And her mother  _ knew _ it. 

She finds herself nodding before her brain can catch up. “I do. I would love to go out with you.” 

Nothing pleases her more than seeing his wide, uninhibited smile at her words. 


	61. Summer camp direct Lance with Pidge's kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> technically canon compliant!

These kids were counting on him, their entire summers depended on him doing this exactly right. He clears his throat and brushes the sleeves of his Galaxy Garrison uniform, blue and white - a grand gesture to the children so they knew they were being taught by a former Paladin of Voltron. 

“This is it, kids, the room where they’re building the Defenders Vehicles,” he says, grandly gesturing to the large window, where on the other side Griffin is assisting one of the newer pilots in adjusting the cockpit. 

The group of kids, human and alien alike, oooh and ahhh as they scramble together and place their grubby hands and faces against the glass to get as close of a look as possible. 

“We won’t stay here long, you lot still have some time left in the anti-gravity chamber,” Lance reminds them.

A young Altean girl turns around and her yellow marking shine. “Are they really just like Voltron? 

Lance chuckles, warmed by the enthusiasm of children.. “Not quite. The technology is the same, but only the Atlas can transform like Voltron. The MFEs and the others can’t do that.”

There was a collective moan of disappointment before they all turned around in time for an engine testing to take their interest. Lance is almost as entranced as they, until—

“Let me down!!”

Lance turns, but knows who the voice belongs to before he even does so. He’s even less surprised when he sees the young Olkari boy in  _ Keith’s _ arms - Keith who he didn’t even know was  _ on _ Earth. 

Lance crosses his arms, channeling his best authoritative aura. “Quin. I was wondering where you’d gone.”

“I found him hacking for access to the back labs,” Keith drones. “I’m assuming he’s supposed to be with you?”

“He is,” Lance says pointedly before addressing his wayward charge. “You’re supposed to be  _ enjoying _ space camp. Pidge is really busy this week, you know how important getting those machines in the air is for her!”

Quin growls as Keith finally places him on the floor. “I'd rather be helping Mom! I know more about tech than almost everyone here!”

Lance sighs, looking to Keith for help… and receives only a useless shrug. Lance glares - Some leader he was. 

“This was supposed to be  _ our _ time to hang out too you,” Lance pleads. “Y’know, bachin’ it out. Just us guys?” After all, in a few short months, Lance would be his father in name just like Pidge was already his mother.

“You’re not my dad!” Quin snarls. “And you won’t ever be!” The boy takes off, scrambling down the hallway. 

Lance bites his lip. Everyone knows Quin, so Lance isn’t worried about his safety but…

“I take it not everything is fine,” Keith states. 

“Pidge is basically honorary Olkari,” Lance says, heart deflated at his failure to connect with the boy. “So she can do no wrong. I’m just a dumb human.” His shoulders slump. “I don’t know what to do, Keith.”

“Don’t give up,” Keith says firmly. “After what happened to his parents… he’s hurting. He may be a genius but he still needs love and support.” He looks down the hall. “Go. I’ll look after your class.”

Lance barely says a word of thanks before running down the hall. 


	62. Colleen has a feelings chat with Pidge AND Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> canon verse  
> post series  
> established relationship

Colleen didn't expect the outing to turn out like this.

Katie sits beside her on the metal floor, back against the same wall, looking so much like her fourteen year-old self the way she has her hands in her face, groaning in annoyance. Yet, she's filled out over the years and is every bit the woman she is today.

Colleen missed so much of her daughter's childhood -  _ completely _ missed the end of it. They have time now - though how much she isn’t sure - and quiznak she  _ will _ use this time that's been given to them.

"Katie," she starts. "We really should talk."

"Mom," she says flatly, not taking her hands away from her face. "This is a very, very bad time to talk."

"I think it’s perfect," Colleen counters. "What else are we going to do?"

Katie huffs, finally removing her hands to reveal tear stained eyes. "I don't know? Anything?  _ Try to escape? _ "

"We are here," Colleen says evenly, "because you didn't want to talk at the space mall. Katie, what you are feeling is perfectly normal. Lance I'm sure is feeling the same awkward feelings."

"I'm right here, you know," Lance says casually, pacing the cell back and forth.

"I didn't want to talk because we were in public. And I'm twenty-five years old, Mom! Lance and I are practically engaged!"

"Wait, what? We are?" Lance squawks, stopping in his tracks and perking up, a hand suspiciously hovering over his front pocket.

"Even Paladins of Voltron have a right to get nervous,” she says gently. “Marriage is a major life commitment. Just know that your father and I give you our blessing to elope if you feel you need to."

Katie's cheeks turn a bright red. " _ What? _ "

"My mother would _kill_ _me_ if we did that," Lance chimes in.

"You are not helping, Lance!" Katie yelps. "Mom, we're not  _ actually _ engaged."

"That's okay," Colleen tells her. She understands, she really does. The pressure the two of them were under as savors of the universe and outright celebrities was immense. "You don't have to say anything. Just let your father and I know you two are safe wherever you go. We can have a code word."

Colleen sighs. "I just want you to know we love and support you, Katie, whatever your future holds."

"We are stuck in a prison cell!" Katie shouts, her arms flailing. "On an old Galra warship run by pirates who would love nothing more than to sell us to the highest bidder - friend  _ or _ foe! And we are talking about feelings and weddings! This is pointless, we need to get out of here!"

"Well..." Lance starts sheepishly. "I could probably do something about relevance."

Katie's mouth drops, but Colleen's heart flutters when Lance produces a small black box from his jean pocket.

"You have to be kidding me," Katie moans. "Lance this is not the time."

"At least tell me if you'll say yes," he says hopefully.

"Of course I will," Katie confirms, her body slumping and brown eyes melting. "But not until we get out of here."

Satisfied, Colleen digs out her old pocket computer. It served her well in college and now will serve her well enough to unlock the door to their cell. She'll leave the rest to her brilliant daughter and quick-thinking future son-in-law.

**Author's Note:**

> Find us on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/seeds-of-the-garden) and send us a prompt!


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